Keene St. KSC 13-14,6-2 Little East

Plymouth St. Plym 21-7,7-1 Little East

Keene St. KSC

13-14,6-2 Little East

Final

Nov. 05, 2022

Plymouth St. Plym

21-7,7-1 Little East

Set Scores
Team	1	2	3	4	5	F
Keene St. KSC	16	26	21	25	15	(3)
Plymouth St. Plym	25	24	25	22	11	(2)

Summary
Box Score

Game Recap: Women's Volleyball | 11/5/2022 7:35:00 PM | Christopher J. Kilmer, Assistant Athletics Director, Athletics Communications

VB: McNeeley shines, but Panthers stunned by Keene in title match

PLYMOUTH, N.H. – Junior Ryley McNeeley (Easton, Mass.) was incredible, pounding down a match-best 20 kills without a single error, but second-seeded Keene State College rallied to upend top-seeded Plymouth State University, 3-2 (16-25, 26-24, 21-25, 25-22, 15-11), in the finals of the Little East Conference (LEC) women's volleyball tournament at Foley Gymnasium on Saturday afternoon.

Plymouth State was in control early, cruising to a 25-16 win in the opening set and looked poised to take a commanding 2-0 lead after storming out to a 23-12 advantage in set two. The Owls rallied, though, closing the set with a 14-2 run and fending off four straight set points to win 26-24 and knot the match at one set apiece.

The Panthers rebounded, though, using a 4-0 spurt behind a pair of McNeeley kills to build a 22-17 lead in the pivotal third set. PSU fought off a late Keene State rally to claim a 25-21 victory.

Keene State grabbed an early advantage in the fourth set, but PSU rallied with five straight points to tie the score at 10-10. The Owls pulled ahead late, though, going up 21-15 and holding on for a 25-22 victory to force a fifth set.

KSC came out firing on all cylinders in the decisive set, building a 10-1 advantage. Trailing 14-6, the Panthers dug in and McNeeley had three straight kills as the deficit was narrowed to 14-11, but a PSU miscue ended the comeback bid as the Owls snatched the win.

Plymouth State, which was seeking its second LEC Tournament title and first since the 2004 season, ends the year with a 21-7 mark.

The Owls win their second conference title (2008) to improve to 13-14 and claim the LEC's automatic berth to the NCAA Tournament. Keene State will learn its first round matchup when the NCAA Selection Show airs on Monday (Nov. 7) at 1:00 p.m. on NCAA.com.

The Basics:

Plymouth State 2, Keene State 3
- Plymouth State (21-7)
- Keene State (13-14)

How it Happened:

Both teams started tentatively to open the match, but McNeeley had two kills and a block during a 5-0 stretch as PSU took an 11-7 lead in the opening set. PSU pushed the margin to 20-13 and sophomore Lilli Stogner (Weare, N.H.) had an ace to make it 22-14 and the hosts coasted from there for the 25-16 win.
Keene State actually held a 4-2 edge early in set two, but the Panthers' net play started clicking. Senior Emilee Flanagan (Milton, N.H.) had a kill and teamed up with McNeeley for a block and another McNeeley kill helped PSU leapfrog in front, 11-6. Plymouth State didn't let up, continuing to extend the margin with junior Nora Ryan (Groton, Conn.) and sophomore Lindsey Sanderson (Gilford, N.H.) getting into the action with kills as the advantage grew to 23-12. Keene took a timeout to regroup, then ran off five straight points to force a PSU timeout. The break didn't slow the Owls' momentum, though, as the visitors ran another three points to pull within 23-20 and lead to a second PSU timeout. McNeeley came away with a huge kill out of the break to give the Panthers their first of four set points, but Keene State came back with six unanswered points for the shocking 26-24 win.
Plymouth State was unfazed, though, as the teams battled back-and-forth throughout set three. Ryan and Sanderson teamed up for a huge block to spark a 5-1 spurt as the hosts went up 17-15. Later, it was McNeeley once again pounding down a pair of kills to extend the lead to 22-17 and moments later Ryan found the floor for a 25-21 win and 2-1 advantage.
The Owls took an early lead in set four, but Plymouth State used a long service run from sophomore Makayla Marucci (Newton, Mass.) to tie things at 10-10. KSC held a slight, 17-15 edge, but used a 4-0 spurt to begin to pull away. McNeeley and Ryan had kills and freshman Riley McDonough (Gilford, N.H.) added an ace as the Panthers rallied to pull within two, 23-21, but Keene State was able to hang on to force a decisive fifth set with a 25-22 win.
The Owls opened with three straight points before a missed serve made it 3-1. Keene State got a quick sideout, though, then turned it on to build a 10-1 advantage. Plymouth State tried to chip away as Flanagan's kill made it 13-6. The Owls responded with a winner for match-point, but again PSU dug in. Senior Natalie Gravelle (Portsmouth, N.H.) found the floor and McNeeley ripped off back-to-back kills to pull within 14-9 and force an Owls' timeout. McNeeley added another winner out of the break and a KSC error cut the deficit to 14-11, but the visitors closed it out from there for the 15-11 win.

By the Numbers:

McNeeley had the match of her life, smashing a match-best 20 kills without a single error to post a .588 hitting percentage. She added four blocks. Her 20 kills were double her previous career high.
Sanderson was also dynamic on the right side, pounding down 11 kills to go with six blocks, while Ryan added 15 kills and six blocks.
Marucci was all over the floor with a career-best 30 digs, while McDonough and freshman Kalista Butler (Philipsburg, Pa.) combined for 57 assists. Butler added 13 digs, with Stogner chipping in with 14.
Sophomore Imalay Rodriguez Martinez (Juncos, Puerto Rico) also played well with 11 digs and a perfect serve receive percentage on 13 attempts.
PSU hit .166 for the match and limited the Owls to .097.
The Panthers had 63 kills as a team, with Keene State only recording 44 winners.
It was the first meeting between the two teams in the conference finals.
Plymouth State finished with 20-plus wins for the third straight full season and has won each of the last three LEC regular season titles.