CASTLETON, Vt. – The Vermont State University Castleton women's volleyball team fought valiantly for four sets against Keene State College on Wednesday night, but fell short in a thrilling Little East Conference matchup at Glenbrook Gym.
The Spartans fell 25-23 in the first set and 27-25 in the second set before claiming a third-set victory, 25-23. The fourth set went Keene's way once more via a 25-23 score to close the match with the visitors winning 3-1. The Owls improve to 8-9 overall and 2-1 in LEC play while Castleton now sits at 4-8 on the year with an 0-3 mark in the league. The Spartans' third-set victory was the first against the Owls since Castleton joined the LEC, as Keene had swept Castleton in previous meetings.
The Owls held a 59-47 edge in kills, but Castleton led 92-78 in total digs in the match. The Spartans hit .142 as a team while Keene tallied a .186 hitting percentage.
Vanessa LeBrun had a monster game for the Spartans, racking up a career-high 16 kills to pair with 24 digs. Her 16 kills rank tied for ninth-most in a four-set match in program history.
Hailey Martinovich matched her with 24 digs of her own in addition to eight kills and three aces. Both LeBrun and Martinovich tied for the fifth-most digs in a four-set match in program history in the contest.
Jocelyn Ray had eight kills and two aces while
Madison Sheehan racked up 10 kills on the night.
Sophia Call had 16 digs and
Maddie Delsignore totaled 35 assists. Delsignore's 35 helpers are also fifth-most all-time in a four-set match for Castleton.
Keene was paced by 17 kills from Molly Wetherbee and 14 from Jessica Timothy. Gigi Stake added 12 kills. Theresa Norris had five aces and 14 digs while Reagan Fleming led the team with 20 digs.
VTSU Castleton trailed by four points midway through the opening set, but a six-point run by the Spartans gave them a 17-15 lead. LeBrun had a pair of kills in the stretch that put Castleton on top. The two sides went back-and-forth from there with Castleton leading 22-21 later in the frame. Keene took a 23-22 edge after back-to-back kills, but Sheehan leveled the score at 23-23 with a kill of her own. The Owls took the next two points and the closed the first set on top, 25-23.
The Spartans opened the second set with a 10-4 lead thanks to a five-point run that featured a pair of aces by Martinovich. The lead grew to 14-7 after a pair of kills by LeBrun but Keene clawed their way back into the set with a four-point run to make it 14-11. Castleton bounced back with five unanswered points of its own for a 19-11 lead, but the Owls once again chipped away with five points to return to just a three-point deficit. The Spartans led 23-19 before the Owls rattled off five straight points to take a 24-23 edge. Sheehan notched a kill to level the score at 24-24 and force extra points in the set. After trading points to a 25-25 score, the Owls won back-to-back points for a 27-25 victory in the second set and a 2-0 lead in the match.
Keene State raced out to a 9-3 lead in the third set before the Spartans used a 7-1 run to tie the score at 10-10. A 5-1 run later in the set gave Castleton a 16-14 lead, but the two sides went back-and-forth to a 22-21 score in Castleton's favor. The Spartans then logged a pair of points for a 24-21 lead thanks to kills by LeBrun and
Caitlin Mahoney. Keene scored twice more to make it 24-23, but LeBrun notched another kill to give Castleton a third-set victory, 25-23, to make it 2-1 in the match and force a fourth set.
VTSU Castleton carried its momentum into the fourth set, jumping ahead 5-1 early in the frame. The lead grew to 12-6 after three straight Spartan kills and sat at 16-9 after a pair of Owl errors. A 5-1 run later in the frame pulled the Owls within two, 19-17, but Castleton rebuilt its lead to five points—23-18. The Owls called timeout after kills by Ray and LeBrun gave the Spartans a heavy advantage, and turned the set around from there. Keene State scored seven points in a row to close the set on top 25-23 and claim a 3-1 victory in the match.
The Spartans return to action with another home match on Saturday at 1 p.m. when they host Eastern Connecticut at Glenbrook Gym.
