THE BASICS
Score: New England College 3, Dean College 1 (25-20, 23-25, 25-15, 25-23)
Records: New England College 12-13, Dean College 9-12
Location: Bridges Gym, Henniker, N.H.
Date: Thursday, October 19, 2017
Time: 7:00 PM

THE LEAD
Host New England College rallied in the fourth set to prevent any thoughts of a fifth frame and the Pilgrims defeated Dean College, 3-1, in non-league women's volleyball action on Thursday evening.

The victory for NEC gives them the season-sweep over the Bulldogs after they knocked off the Cardinal and White in three sets back in September in Franklin.

NEC LEADERS
The Pilgrims received an impressive 30 digs from Meaghan Six (Manchester, N.H.), a season-high for the team's leading defensive player.

Freshman Kennedy Somavia (Red Bluff, Calif.) dished out a season-high 44 assists and added 13 digs for a double-double.

Kayleigh MacDougall (Farmington, N.H.) and Kaitlyn Walker (Cottonwood, Calif.) both finished with 12 kills apiece. As a team, the Pilgrims tallied 50 kills.

DEAN LEADERS
Dean's Kaitlyn Anderson (Clinton, Conn.) led three categories for the visitors, tallying 15 kills, two aces and three blocks.

Melanie Rios-Nevarez (Alta Vega, Puerto Rico) dished out 32 assists, while Aminah Tsonga (Plainville, Conn.) and Sami Mulcahy (Taunton, Mass.) both had 20 digs each.

HOW IT HAPPENED
Three of the four sets were decided by five points or less as both teams were relatively even-matched throughout the match.

The Pilgrims held a 17-8 lead in the first set until Dean rallied to score 10 of the next 11 points to even the score at 18-18, proving they were not going down without a fight. NEC held on to win the first set 25-20.

The tides turned in the second set. Again trailing midway through, Dean took an 18-16 lead on a bad set. The two teams traded points with neither holding more than a three-point lead. NEC managed to score three points with Dean stuck at game-point, but a kill by Anderson gave Dean the set two win at 25-23.

The Pilgrims held the lead from the beginning of the third set and had their best defensive effort, holding Dean to just three kills in the set. The Bulldogs fought back in set four and threatened a fifth set by holding a 23-22 lead in the fourth, but kills by MacDougall and Griffin and an error on the Dean side of the net gave the last three points of the match to NEC.

UP NEXT
Dean will return to action on Saturday with an NECC match against Newbury College. First serve is slated for 10:00 AM at Hellenic College.