Golden Bears turn away Seahawks 3-1

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. - The Salve Regina women's volleyball team falls to 15-9 on the season after a 3-1 loss to Western New England.

The Golden Bears, who remain undefeated in Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) play, were paced by Senior Grace Kucharski who reached the 2,000-dig milestone, classmate Kasey Cameron who spiked 19 kills while junior Olivia Lathrop added 18, and sophomore Jessica Sincero who dished a career-best 47 assists in the 21-25, 25-16, 25-22, 25-21 victory Wednesday.

Tonight marked the Golden Bears'#Play4Jody event to honor Athletics Business Manager Jody Lemoi '02, G'04 who is fighting leukemia, as orange T-shirts were sold and a ticketed serving contest was held after the second set to help raise money for Jody's medical expenses.

For the Seahawks, Jennifer Duggan (Merrimack, N.H.) and Katelyn Beauregard (Dartmouth, Mass.) led the way with 12 and 10 kills, respectively. Taylor Violet (Tiverton, R.I.) directed the offense with 36 assists while libero Dianna Tauro (Melrose, Mass.) contributed a match-high 22 digs.

Kucharski, an AVCA coaches' All-America libero last season, had 12 digs to lead three teammates in double-digits, including senior Kendra Ouimette, Cameron and Sincero with 10 apiece. With 2,007 career digs and already the school's all-time leader in that category, Kucharski needs 68 to surpass Jamie Wong of Middlebury College (2,074 from 2002-05) for 10th place in New England NCAA Division III history.

The visiting Seahawks took the first set by four points to spoil Kucharski's milestone with her fifth dig of the match that extended a long rally and gave Cameron an opportunity for a kill to pull WNE within 22-20. But Salve Regina took advantage of two WNE errors and a kill by Duggan to close the frame and take a 1-0 lead in the match. The Golden Bears had trail 12-5 but couldn't overcome a strong Seahawks attack in the early going.

But Western New England regrouped in the second set and began its quest for one of the team's best all-around performances of the year. After Salve Regina jumped to a 3-0 lead, WNE reeled off 10 points in a row on sophomore Jenna Leuck's (6 assists, 3 aces, 9 digs) serve. Kelsey Armstrong (12 kills) and Lathrop keyed the 10-0 run with two kills apiece to go along with two aces by Leuck. The Seahawks won the next four points but couldn't get closer as the Golden Bears cruised to even the match 1-set apiece. Western New England outhit Salve Regina in the stanza, .226 to .000

The Golden Bears' offense continued to get better in the third set behind a great defensive effort. Neither team held more than a three-point margin but the momentum changed in favor for WNE when four kills by Cameron helped turn a 16-15 deficit into a 20-17 lead. The teams traded kills over the next several points as Duggan got Salve Regina within 21-20. Following a WNE timeout, a Beauregard attack error and Lathrop kill put the Golden Bears up 23-20 before the Seahawks called timeout. Beauregard came back with a kill and this time Lathrop committed a hitting error before a WNE kill by Carolyn Hajdusek (8 kills, .217) and another Seahawks error gave the home team a 2-1 lead in sets that they wouldn't relinquish. Kucharski and Company kept alive many rallies with strong defense to help prevent Salve Regina from going up 2-1.

The fourth set was the Golden Bears all of the time, hitting a crisp .372 with 20 kills on 43 total attempts with just four hitting errors. Western New England led the whole time albeit a 1-1 tie. Armstrong and Lathrop had two kills apiece to help a quick 7-3 start. Western New England would eventually go up 21-16 on an Armstrong kill before three consecutive points brought Salve Regina within 21-19. Following a timeout, the Golden Bears responded with back-to-back kills by Lathrop for a comfortable 23-19 lead. The teams traded points the rest of the way and Cameron punctuated the win with a kill down the right sideline to end the match.

Western New England excelled in its offense by outhitting a sound-defensive side in Salve Regina, .283 to .160 and recording 20 more kills (62-42). Both teams played good defense as Salve Regina had 63 digs to 61 for WNE, but the Golden Bears had four team blocks to three for the Seahawks. Western New England was able to get the win despite committing 12 service errors.

Western New England snaps its longest losing streak of the season at three matches to improve to 17-10, and more importantly, 5-0 in the CCC, just 1/2 game within first-place Roger Williams (17-5 overall, 6-0 CCC). The Seahawks, who lose to the Golden Bears for the first time in four years, drop to 15-9 overall and 4-2 in the conference.

Salve Regina will next play on October 18 against Eastern Nazarene at 7 p.m. in another CCC matchup.