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WESTFIELD, Mass. – Six different players contributed kills and seven had digs in the decisive fifth set as the Eastern Connecticut State University women's volleyball team trimmed the University of New England to complete a non-conference sweep of two matches Saturday at Westfield State University's Woodward Center.
 
Eastern (7-1) rallied from a four-point first-set loss to New England (4-4), and survived the decisive fifth set, scoring the first five points and holding on to record match point on an attack error.
 
Eastern defeated New England, 21-25, 25-17, 26-24, 13-25, 15-13 after  emerging from a hotly-contested  match against Westfield (1-7) with a four-set victory  where neither team won a set by more than six points. Set scores were 25-21, 22-25, 26-24, 25-19.
 
With two wins Saturday and four straight overall, Eastern equals it best start after eight matches since 2021, when it won nine of its first ten en route reaching the Little East Conference finals (losing a five-set decision at Massachusetts Boston) and finishing 18-8.
 
Facing New England for the first time in 11 years, the Warriors improved to 9-2 in the all-time series which dates back to 1987 and won a five-set decision over the Nor'easters  for the second time in three tries.
 
First-year player Allegra Copeland (Beaumont, CA) – last week's Little East Conference Rookie-of-the-Week – had 15 kills against UNE, with sophomore Emma Robinson (Westlake Village, CA) and junior Haley Jo Bridges (Montebello, NY) contributing ten each, with Bridges attacking at .286 (she leads the team with a .321 percentage). Robinson added 18 digs, sophomore Emerson Conigliaro (Raleigh, NC) digging up 14 and senior setter Liz Squier (Trevor, WI) contributing ten digs and 41 assists. Junior Brooke Praskeivicz (Moodus) had nine kills, seven digs and handled 15 receptions with only one error.
 
After having lost three of the previous four matches in the all-time series which trimmed the Warriors' advantage in the series against Westfield to 19-4, the Warriors began the day by edging the Owls. Eastern took a 2-1 lead in sets by emerging with the key two-point victory in the third set. Eastern responded with the loss in set two by attacking at an afternoon-high .261 in the third set, with Copeland leading the way with six kills in nine attempts for a .556 attack percentage. Bridges, Praskievicz and junior Sierra York (Ashford) each added three kills, with Bridges committing only one error on four attempts.
 
In that third set, Conigliaro (7), Robinson (6), sophomore Ariah Davis (Raleigh, NC) (5) and Praskievicz (4) combined for 21 of the team's 24 digs, Davis setting for ten assists and senior Samantha Blandford (Windham, NH) chipping in two aces and Squier one.
 
In the four-set win over Westfield, Robinson had 13 kills with a .367 attack percentage, Bridges nine with a .462 attack percentage; Squier had four aces and 20 assists; Davis 22 assists and eight digs, Conigliaro 17 digs with a .938 reception percentage on 32 attempts,  and Praskievicz eight kills and ten digs.
 
In nine sets on the afternoon, Robinson led the way with 23 kills and 31 digs, Copeland also collecting 23 kills with a .255 attack percentage and Bridges 19 kills with a team-high .353 percentage; Conigliaro also had 31 digs and had a .917 reception percentage on a team-high 60 attempts; Praskievicz added 17 kills, 17 digs and a .919 reception percentage on 37 attempts; and Squier 61 assists, and Davis 24.
 
Eastern visits Connecticut College (3-3) Wednesday at 6 p.m. in a non-conference match at the Luce Field House. The Camels, 15-9 a year ago, are coming off Saturday's sweep at Worcester State University after losing in four sets to Plymouth State University of the Little East last Saturday at home.
 
Conn has dominated the all-time series with Eastern, winning 24 of 33 decisions. The Warriors' lone win in the last 14 meetings came in four sets at Geissler Gymnasium in 2022, a victory that improved Eastern's record to 9-2 that season. The teams each had a two-point win in that match, the Camels taking the first set, 27-25 and Eastern closing it out with a 25-23 decision in the fourth set. Blandford and Squier both competed in that match as freshmen. Blandford contributed three digs and two assists and Squier 14 assists, six digs,  two aces and a kill.
 
After visiting Conn, Eastern hosts Johnson & Wales and Vassar College next Saturday before kicking off Little East play at Keene State College Sept. 26.