KEENE, N.H. – The Eastern Connecticut State University women's volleyball team halted a streak of 19 straight set losses to Keene State College in Little East Conference action Saturday afternoon at Spaulding Gymnasium, but the Warriors know that they could have had a whole lot more.

At right: Hannah Koehler (19) (Photo by Liam Murphy)

Eastern (7-8, 1-1 Little East) lost to Keene State (8-11, 1-1 Little East), 13-25, 28-26, 24-26, 17-25) before being swept in a non-conference match to  Bowdoin College (11-2), 8-25, 16-25, 14-25.In the final match of the day, Keene stunned the Polar Bears with a three-set non-conference sweep decided by ten total points.

Against Keene, Eastern bounced back from a 12-point loss in the first set – its 19^th setback in a row to the Owls -- to edge Keene by two in the second and even the best-of-five series. The Warriors led by seven and needed only one point to win the all-important third set before the hosts reeled off the final nine points to stun Eastern, 26-24, behind eight consecutive service points from sophomore Leslie Hearns.

The Owls closed out the fourth set and sealed the win in the same fashion as the third, ripping off the final nine points to erase a one-point deficit on the way to a 25-17 decision. After recording a kill on a serve by Eastern junior Allie Luppi (Tewksbury, MA) that tied the set at 17-all, junior Angela Silveri of Keene proceeded to serve her team's final eight points.

After attacking at .270 in the second-set win over Keene (and at .320 in the opening-set loss), Eastern faltered in the final two sets, compiling a .056 attack percentage. Against Bowdoin, Eastern fell to .036 in attack percentage, while the Polar Bears enjoyed a .459 mark.

In the second-set triumph over Keene, Eastern never trailed until the stretch drive, when an Eastern attack error pushed the hosts into their first lead, 26-25, since 6-5. With Eastern facing set point, sophomore middle hitter Kay Mullen (Fairhaven, MA) converted a kill on a pass from senior Allie Henry (Middletown) to tie the match. A ball-handling error by Keene moved Eastern to within set point, and sophomore Adrianna Mihalek's (Woodbury) third service ace of the set allowed the Warriors to end the 19-set hex.

 In seven sets on the afternoon, Eastern collected nine service aces but attacked at only .050. Its opponent attacked at .271 and recorded 17 service aces. Mullen had 14 kills and three blocks, Mihalek 15 kills, 11 digs and three service aces, Luppi21 digs and three service aces, Henry 26 assists and 15 digs, and freshman middle Hannah Koehler (Bedford, NH) eight blocks.

Eastern hosts Western New England University Tuesday at 7 p.m.

Keene State College 3, Eastern Conn. 1

Eastern Conn. (7-7, 1-1 Little East)            13      28      24      17

Keene State (8-11, 1-1 Little East)             25      26      26      25

Bowdoin College 3, Eastern Conn. 0

Eastern Conn. (7-8)                   8      16      14

Bowdoin (11-2)                       25      25      25