WILLIMANTIC, Conn. – Eastern Connecticut volleyball (7-4, 0-1 LEC) dropped a close five-set match against Keene State (6-5, 1-0 LEC), 22-25, 25-18, 25-21, 22-25, 15-13, to start Little East play on Saturday (Sept. 26).
Four Warriors finished in double figures in kills with
Brooke Praskievicz and
Emma Robinson each tallying a season-high 16 to lead the way.
Sierra York had a season-high 14 kills and
Haley Jo Bridges finished with 10.
Lauren Lacy guided the offense and set a season-high with a team-high 26 assists and
Sonya Nielsen matched her season-high with 24. Both Lacy and
Emerson Conigliaro had four aces, as Eastern finished the day with 13.
On defense, Conigliaro had a team-best 29 digs. Robinson and Praskievicz finished the day with double-doubles, collecting 16 and 14 digs respectively. At the net, Bridges had three blocks to lead the squad.
Conigliaro, Robinson and Praskievicz's dig totals were all season-highs.
Eastern trailed set one 15-11 but battled back to tie the set at 17 after two kills from Robinson sparked a 3-0 run. With the teams trading runs, the set was tied at 22 before Eastern picked up a kill from York and two errors from Keene State to win the first.
The Warriors were in a hole after dropping the next two sets and were locked in a battle in the fourth, up 13-12 before picking up a 3-0 run to go up 16-12. The Owls tried to get back in the set but Eastern had an answer for every run, eventually pushing its lead to 22-18 after a block by the duo of York and Bridges. Keene pulled back within one at 23-22 but kills by Praskievicz and Robinson sent the match to a fifth set.
Playing in its third-straight five set match, Eastern fell behind 6-3. The Warriors went on a 5-0 run featuring two aces by Lacy to go up 8-6. Keene responded with its own 4-0 run to take a 10-8 lead.
It was then Eastern's turn to respond with two kills from Robinson and one each from Praskievicz and Bridges to flip the score back to 12-10. Keene tied the set at 12 before Robinson gave Eastern the lead but that would be the last point the Warriors scored as Keene scored three-straight to close out the match.
UP NEXT
Little East play continues for the Warriors as Eastern will host VTSU Castleton on Friday (Oct. 2) at 6 p.m.
