SPRINGFIELD, MA – After dropping four consecutive games, the Eastern Connecticut State University women's volleyball team seems to have found their rhythm at the right time after sweeping both Western New England University (9-10) and Clark University (12-8) in straight sets on Saturday at Alumni Healthful Living Center in Springfield. The two wins extend the Warriors' winning streak to five consecutive games, four of which have come on the road.
 
    In the first match, senior outside hitter Alaetra Long (Lincoln, NE) got Eastern off to a fast start with three straight service aces to put the Warriors in front 3-0 in the first set against Western New England University. Eastern would ride that momentum to a 25-13 first set victory and despite finding themselves down 2-0 in both the second and third sets, storm back for the sweeping victory by winning the sets by scores of 25-18 and 26-24. The Golden Bears threatened to extend the match to a fourth set after knotting up the score at 24 apiece, but a kill by senior middle blocker Anna Barry (Andover) and bad set by first-year setter Taylor Geist secured the match for the Warriors.
 
    Barry would attack at a .333 for the Warriors along with senior outside hitter Abby Stern (Manchester) who attacked at a .375 for the first match. However, the bigger storyline for Stern in this one would be her 14 digs which helped her become the 4^th player in program history to record 1,000 kills and 1,000 digs in their career.
 
    Riding the momentum from the first match, Eastern would continue to dominate the afternoon against Clark University in straight sets by scores of 25-14, 25-17, and 25-22. The Warriors would again never trail in the first set of action and only once throughout the three sets when Clark used two attack errors by Long and kills by sophomore outside hitter Sofia Scherrer del Llano and middle back Layne Stevens to go ahead 14-13 in the second set. Eastern would respond with a 5-0 run of their own and score 11 of the last 15 points to win the set.
 
    Similar to the match against Western New England University, Clark would look to force a fourth set with a late run. Following a 4-0 run by the Warriors to go up 23-18, the Cougars would go on a 4-0 run of their own to pull within one before Stern and sophomore outside hitter Stacie Kinlen (Thornwood, NY) converted back to back kills to finish the second sweep of the day for Eastern.
 
    Barry would continue her dominant afternoon, finishing with 18 kills to bring her total to 33 kills across six sets while continuing her high attacking percentage with a .577 effort against Clark.
 
    Senior setter Meg Verizzi (Lebanon) recorded 64 assists in her six sets of play while Alaetra Long finished with seven total service aces including four against Clark. Abby Stern and junior middle blocker Nayeli Cruz Martinez (Toa Baja, P.R.) also finished with four services aces each in the win versus the Cougars.
 
    The Warriors will return to action next Saturday, October 16^th for a Little East Conference matchup with Plymouth State University at 12:00 PM in Geissler gymnasium followed by a non-conference match versus Wheaton College at 4:00 PM. With only two Little East Conferences matches remaining and Eastern being tied for second in the conference at 4-2 along with three other teams with only two losses, beating Plymouth State will be pivotal.

    The Warriors currently sit two games back of the Panthers who are currently 19-0 this year and 7-0 in Little East Conference play. The last matchup ended with an Eastern victory in straight sets back in April to avenge their five-set defeat in the 2019 Little East Conference Tournament Semifinals in Geissler Gymnasium.