Washkalavitch Leads Balanced Owls Attack in Four Set Win over Western New England

WESTFIELD, Mass. – Senior Emily Washkalavitch (Oxford, Pa.) powered home a team-leading 14 kills as Westfield State defeated Western New England in four sets (25-20, 25-21, 24-26, 25-18) as part of a non-conference match from the Woodward Center in Wednesday night.

Washkalavitch has now piled up double-digit kills in four of her last six matches and also secured 15 digs for Westfield. The Owls totaled 49 kills on the evening with Lauren Carnes (Westfield, Mass.) and Hanna Nihill (Chandler, Ariz.) each posting nine kills.

Morgan Dority (Walpole, Mass.) notched 34 assists while Erica Majka (Agawam, Mass.) continually kept rallies alive in the back after registering 29 digs.

Lea Barber (Bethany, Conn.) led all players with 17 kills for Western New England. Rachel Critz (Kingston, Mass.) supplied ten kills and five solo blocks. Deana Baez (Providence, R.I.) added 20 assists and Charlei Henkel (Centerton, Ark.) recorded 23 digs.

Trailing 12-9 in set one, Westfield ripped off six consecutive points to take the lead capped by back-to-back aces from Carnes. The Golden Bears trimmed the deficit to one before the Owls added on four straight points to stay ahead 19-14. WNEU would get no closer than four points for the rest of the set, and was closed off by a Carnes kill to take a one set lead.

Western New England held an 18-12 lead before another strong charge from the Owls turned a six point deficit into a two point lead, tallying nine of the next ten points for a 21-19 lead. With the set tied at 21, a WNEU service error then a pair of kills from Washkalavitch and Carnes sent it to set point. Washkalavitch aced the Golden Bears to punctuate a two-set-to-none lead.

The Owls nearly pulled off a match sweep, leading 24-20 in the third set. However, the Golden Bears fended off four match points to tie the set after an ace from Madison Stauss (Wallkill, N.Y.). A block from Barber and Critz combined with a kill from Critz sent the match into a fourth set.

Westfield regained momentum of the match midway through the set, registering six of eight points to open an 18-14 lead where they would pull away and take a seven-point win in the set to win the match.

Westfield State will be back in action on Saturday to take on Nichols and SUNY-Delhi at 11:00am and 1:00pm from Dudley, Mass.