Box Score KEENE, N.H. – The Castleton University women's volleyball team continued its four-game road trip on Wednesday night, falling 3-0 to Keene State in Little East Conference action.
 
The Spartans fall to 4-14 overall with the loss and 0-5 in LEC play, while Keene improves to 6-12 overall and 3-2 in LEC action with their third win in a row. The Owls amassed 39 kills to Castleton's 16 and had a 14-9 edge in aces and 47-44 edge in digs.
 
Hailey Martinovich had a team-high seven kills for Castleton in addition to five aces. Vanessa LeBrun accounted for five kills and 13 digs while Jenna Schott had a pair of kills and nine digs on the evening. Caitlin Mahoney was part of two blocks for Castleton, one solo and one assisted with Schott.
 
Keene State's Gigi Stake led all players with nine kills while Reagan Fleming had three aces and 13 digs for the Owls.
 
Castleton hung around early in the first set before an 8-0 run by the Owls propelled them to a 15-4 lead, but Castleton responded with four points of its own—all from the right arm of Martinovich after a kill and three aces. The two sides traded points for a period before Keene rattled off four points to take a 24-11 lead. Castleton scored twice to make it 24-13 before a kill by Stake ended the set 25-13.
 
Keene opened the second set with five straight points before Castleton went on a 4-1 run to close the gap to 6-4. Keene responded with a 9-1 run of its own to establish a 15-5 edge before a service error stopped the run, 15-6. Castleton scored three points in a row late in the set to make it 21-12, but Keene rattled off four of the last five points for a 25-13 win in the second set.
 
The final frame was competitive throughout with multiple ties and lead changes. After Castleton tied the set at 12-12, Keene scored four of the next five points to take a 16-13 lead before later stringing together five unanswered for a 21-14 edge. Castleton then went on a 3-0 run to close the gap to 21-17, and remained close at 23-19 after a pair of points late. Keene scored the final two points of the set, however, closing out the night with a 25-19 win in the third set for the sweep.
 
Castleton returns to action Thursday night at MCLA at 6 p.m. for a non-conference tilt in North Adams, Mass.