WESTFIELD, Mass. – The Westfield State Owls' volleyball team suffered a straight sets loss to the visiting Amherst Mammoths (25-13, 25-9, 25-18) at the Woodward Center on Tuesday, Oct. 8. The setback drops the Owls to .500 overall (9-9) and the Mammoths improve to 13-1.
Prior to the match six Owl seniors were recognized for their contributions to the program in their last regular season home contest; Lizzie Taylor (Medfield/ Medfield), Natasha Belardo (Springfield/ Holyoke), Ally Rega (Chelmsford/ Chelmsford), Hanna Simpkins (Walpole, N.H./ Fall Mountain), Brianna Starkey (Rockland/ Rockland) and Cait Medeiros (Acushnet/ New Bedford).
Taylor, one of the best defensive specialists in Owl history, was also acknowledged for reaching her 2,000th career dig on the road last weekend. It is one of many milestones for the program's all-time dig leader who finished with 19 on the night to extend her record.
Emily Kolsky (Los Angeles, Calif./ Marlborough) had a game-high 15 kills for Amherst and finished with a .500 hitting percentage. Cameron Hendricks (Glastonbury, Conn./ Glastonbury) connected on nine kills in the win.
Coordinating the Mammoths' attack were setters Charlotte Duran (Laguna Beach, Calif./ St. Margaret's) and Jacqueline Kortekaas (Manhattan Beach, Calif./ Marymount) who registered 20 and 12 assists respectively. Duran reached a double-digit dig total as well with 12.
The Westfield offense was led by Ashley Crowley's (Billerica/ Billerica) seven kills, but 23 Owl attack errors were too much to overcome.
Rega connected on 21 assists along with nine digs on senior night.
Skylar Savage (San Jose, Calif./ Archbishop Mitty) led all Amherst players with 18 digs.
Amherst controlled the play at the net throughout the match and held a 10-2 edge in team blocks.
Westfield State returns to action on Saturday, Oct. 12 with a tri-match against Salve Regina (1:00 p.m.) and Rivier (3:00 p.m.), at Rivier. Amherst kicks off a conference weekend on Friday, Oct. 11 when they host Connecticut College at 7:00 p.m.
