KEENE, N.H. - The Plymouth State University women's volleyball team split a pair of matches Saturday afternoon at the inaugural Little East Conference-New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) Challenge held at Keene State College's Spaulding Gym.

            The Panthers dropped a highly-contested three-set match to Smith College in the opener (29-27, 25-17, and 26-24), but came back with a sweep of Mount Holyoke College in the nightcap, 25-9, 25-4, and 25-15.  PSU is now 15-9 on the season.

            Keene State swept its two matches over the NEWMAC opponents to improve to 20-8 overall.  Smith is now 11-13 and Mount Holyoke is 4-9.

            Juniors Eliza Badeau (Foster, R.I.) and Carly Newton (Centerville, Mass.) led the Panthers in the Smith match, Badeau with 11 kills and two blocks and Newton with nine kills.  Senior Sarah Spears (Meredith, N.H.) chipped in with three aces and nine digs. Senior Courtney Parker (Berlin, Md.) had 11 kills and two blocks to lead Smith, and sophomore Alexander Rissi (Scottsdale, Az.) added eight kills, three aces and two blocks.

            Badeau led the Panthers against Mount Holyoke with 10 kills and five blocks.  Newton contributed eight kills, Spears finished with 16 digs, and freshman Meghan Sullivan (Marlton, N.J.) had six kills and two aces.

            PSU is back in action Wednesday with a non-conference match at Middlebury (7:00 p.m.) 

(Courtesy of Keene State Sports Information) 

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