Panthers fall in LEC Tournament

            KEENE, N.H. – Third-seeded Keene State College hit .303 in the opening set and never looked back, topping sixth-seeded Plymouth State University in the opening round of the Little East Conference (LEC) Women's Volleyball Tournament Tuesday night at Spaulding Gymnasium.

            The Owls improve to 21-9 and advance to face second-seeded University of Massachusetts Boston in a semifinal match at Eastern Connecticut State on Friday (Nov. 2), while Plymouth State's season comes to an end with an 11-20 mark.

            The Basics:

            Plymouth State 0, Keene State 3

            Plymouth State 11-20

            Keene State 21-9

            How it Happened:

            * Junior Alisha Flanagan (Milton, N.H.) pounded down a kill to open the first set, but the Owls scored the next six points and wouldn't trail the rest of the set.

            * Another Flanagan winner and a pair of Owls' errors pulled PSU to with 15-9 midway through the set, but that was as close as the Panthers would get.

            * Junior Lex Bowers (Port St. Lucie, Fla.) found the floor early in the second set to stop a 4-0 run by the Owls to make it a 7-5 deficit. Keene answered with five straight points, forcing a Panthers' timeout.

            * PSU cut the margin to 12-6, but the Owls responded with a 10-0 surge to put the second set away.

            * The teams battled through the early stages of the third set. After five lead changes and four ties, the Panthers took an 8-6 lead following a kill from freshman Alexa Price (Moultonborough, N.H.), but again the Owls had an answer.

            * Three straight kills sparked another 10-0 run for the hosts and Plymouth was unable to recover.

            Inside the Numbers:

            * Bowers finished with a team high five kills, while Flanagan, Price and junior Allie Rogers (Sandown, N.H.) each chipped in with four.

            * Price notched her fifth double-double of the season, finishing with 12 assists and 11 digs for the Panthers.

            * Flanagan matched Price for the team-lead with 11 digs.

            * The Panthers are one of just three teams (Eastern Connecticut State and WestConn) to qualify for the Little East Tournament every year since its inception in 1996.

            * PSU falls to 2-6 against the Owls in the LEC Tournament.

            * The setback marked the final game in the careers of seniors Ari Linden (Lena, Ill.), Kennedy Mang (Livonia, Mich.) and Jill Tiner (Salem, N.H.).

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