Volleyball Tripped Up at Keene State, 3-0

KEENE, N.H. – Suffolk volleyball suffered its first Saturday loss since August by the hands of Keene State. The Owls defeated the Rams in straight sets via scores 25-19, 25-15 and 25-13. 

THE BASICS
SCORE: Suffolk 0 | Keene State 3
RECORDS: Suffolk (16-8) | Keene State (18-8) 

SET ONE RECAP (25-19, KEENE STATE)

• Suffolk trails 10-2 early on. 
• A Rams' 6-2 run sliced the distance down to four, 12-8. 
• The blue-and-gold chipped away at the margin and pulled within one, 17-16, after Sarah Mullahy recorded herthird kill of the night. 
• Keene State used a timeout to slow down Suffolk and it worked as the Owls put up four unanswered points to gain a 21-16 advantage that forced Scott Blanchard to call his team over. 
• Similar to the hosts, the Rams rallied out of their huddle with three straight points of their own to cut things down to two, 21-19. 
• Keene closed the frame with four consecutive points to take an early 1-0 edge.  

SET TWO RECAP (25-15, KEENE STATE)

• A tight opening had Keene in front, 7-5. 
• Kill from Kayla Barbera and Emerson Martin equalized the frame at 7-all. 
• A see-saw affair ensued with the score leveling six times with the last coming at 14-all. 
• The Owls took over from there with a 7-1 stretch that put the hosts ahead 21-15.  
• A Suffolk timeout did not slow Keene down who scored four straight out of the huddle to take the set.  

SET THREE RECAP (25-13, KEENE STATE)

• An early 8-2 Owls edge blossomed into a lopsided 15-7 Keene stanza at the midway point.
• The Rams attempted a late comeback and cut the distance down to eight, 20-12. 
• The blue-and-gold did not pull any closer and Keene State sealed the day with four unanswered points. 

STATISTICALLY SPEAKING

• Barberaproduced 10 kills, eight digs and one handout to lead the way. 
• Hannah Fabiano provided eight kills, eight digs and one ace. 
• Harmony Johnson was one dig shy of a double-double with 22 assists and nine digs with one kill to her credit. 
• Mullahy contributed five kills, four digs, three blocks and one assist. 

NOTEWORTHY

• Suffolk and Keene State renewed a rivalry, meeting for the first time since 2008. 

POST-MATCH PIC
  

COMING UP
The Rams return to Ridgeway Wednesday, Oct. 23 when it hosts Regis in a GNAC match at 7 p.m. at the Larry E. and Michael S. Smith Court.