Women’s Volleyball Downed at Johnson & Wales

WESTFIELD, Mass. – Westfield State women's volleyball lost to Johnson & Wales in straight sets (25-19, 25-9, 25-22) in a non-conference game on the road Wednesday night from Providence, R.I.

Emily Washkalavitch (Oxford, Pa.) led the Owls with a team-leading nine kills, continuing her stellar play for Westfield after a career-high 18 kills in her last outing versus Rhode Island College this past weekend.

Morgan Dority (Walpole, Mass.) recorded 19 of the Owls' 20 assists and Erica Majka (Agawam, Mass.) recorded 12 digs.

Nevaeh Arnold (Alpharetta, Ga.) led the all players with ten kills for the Wildcats. Sophia Santacroce (Toledo, Ohio) chipped in 19 assists and Sierra Nausieda (Ada, Mich.) tallied 17 digs. Brooke Caquelin (Longmont, Colo.) paced JWU with five aces as the Wildcats racked up 15 aces as a unit.

Westfield got out to an early lead in set one, scoring ten of the first 13 points of the match after consecutive kills from Washkalavitch and Allie Hill (St. Clair Shores, Mich.). Johnson & Wales would slowly chip away at the deficit, eventually tying then taking the lead after back-to-back aces to put the Wildcats in front.

From that point forward, JWU would not trail until the opening point of the third set. The Owls would hold a 15-11 advantage as both teams would exchange points in the middle of the set. A six-point spurt late in the final set turned a 20-16 Owls lead into a 22-20 Wildcats lead. A kill from Hanna Nihill (Chandler, Ariz.) would trim the deficit to one, but a kill then Westfield attacking error sealed the match victory for Johnson & Wales.

Westfield State will return home for a Saturday tri-match at the Woodward Center, taking on Eastern Connecticut State at 11:00 A.M. followed by University of New England at 3:00 P.M. Eastern Connecticut and University of New England will play the middle match at 1:00 P.M.