Panthers get past WestConn in LEC
opener
DANBURY, Conn. – The Plymouth State
University women's volleyball team won a pair of matches on
Saturday, narrowly defeating Western Connecticut State University,
3-2, in the Little East Conference opener in its first match of the
day and sweeping Saint Joseph College, 3-0, in a non-conference
match to finish the day. Both matches were played at
WestConn's Feldman Arena.
In the day's first match, WestConn took the first set by a
score of 25-20, but Plymouth State overcame an early WestConn lead
in the second set to dominate the remainder of the set to win
25-17, evening the match at one set apiece.
Plymouth State controlled the early action in the third set, taking
leads of 4-0 and 16-9. WestConn fought back to even the score
at 20-20 and held on down the stretch for a 25-23 win.
PSU again ran out to an early lead (5-1) in the fourth set, but the
Colonials battled back to even the score at 10-10. Plymouth
State went on a 7-2 run for a 19-14 lead, and closed out the set
with their second 25-17 victory.
The fifth set remained close early, but WestConn pulled ahead to a
13-10 lead, prompting a Plymouth State time-out. The Panthers
stormed out of the break to take the next three points to tie the
score at 13-13, but WestConn answered with a kill to earn
match-point. The Colonials would earn four more match-points,
but Plymouth State had an answer each time. Finally, with the
score tied 20-20, Plymouth State earned a match-point of their own
and served out the final point for a thrilling 3-2 conference
victory.
Sophomore Casey Stoodley (Salem, N.H.) led the
Panthers with 19 kills and 19 digs, while junior Elissa
Morin (Nashua, N.H.) added 13 kills and five blocks.
Junior Meghan Sullivan (Marlton, N.J.) and
freshman Allie Jones (Canton, Mass.) contributed
11 kills each and junior Alex Avery (Milton,
N.H./Nute) topped the team with 23 digs.
Plymouth State rolled over St. Joseph in straight sets (25-13,
25-13, 25-7) in the second match of the day. Freshmen
Cassie Pelton (Brookline, N.H.) and
Shannen Vaughn (Farmington, N.H.) recorded seven
and six kills, respectively.
PSU is now 7-4 overall and 1-0 in conference play, while WestConn
is 11-2 overall and 0-1 in the Little East. The Panthers are
back on the court Tuesday with a visit to Rivier College (7:00
p.m.)
(Courtesy of WestConn Sports Information)
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