DANBURY, Conn. — Despite a 1-1 tie, the Western Connecticut State University volleyball team regained its momentum in the final two sets to outlast the visiting St. Joseph's University (LI) Golden Eagles on Tuesday in its home opener at the Stephen Feldman Arena. The Wolves improved to 2-6 overall after the 3-1 victory (25-18, 19-25, 25-13, 25-18), while SJLI dropped to 2-2. First-year
Kayla Proscia (Holbrook, N.Y.) boasted a career-high five blocks. Sophomore
Hallie Robillard (Middletown, Conn.) posted career-best digs (13) and aces (3) and landed a season-best 13 kills.
The visitors opened up the first set with a 4-0 run, but WestConn delivered eight unanswered points, including a trio of kills by
Julia Stoliker (Red Hook, N.Y.) and two from Robillard. The teams traded points to remain close, capped by an ace from the Golden Eagles, with an 18-17 hosts' lead. WestConn regrouped and came back for a 7-1 scoring stretch to claim the first-set victory.
St. Joseph's took a strong 11-4 lead to open the second set and continued to maintain the advantage through the entire set. WestConn narrowed the gap to four, ignited by a kill from Stoliker, but a 4-2 scoring run ended the set for the 1-1 tie. In the third frame, WestConn came out hot to stifle the visitors' offense with a quick 19-13 advantage before dishing out the final six straight points of a pair of errors by the Golden Eagles, two kills from Stoliker and kills by Proscia and Robillard.
In the final set, WestConn remained hot with an 11-5 stretch. SJLI attempted a rally to close the gap to five, 20-15, but Proscia's kill disrupted the Golden Eagles' rhythm. WestConn nabbed the final points of two attacking errors by St. Joseph's and back-to-back kills by Robillard.
WestConn remains at home for its Tri-Match with the University of Hartford and United States Merchant Marine Academy on Saturday, September 19. The first match is set for noon, while the final Wolves match will start at approximately 4 p.m. UHart and USMMA face each other at 2 p.m.
