Owls Ranked #14 in New England Poll; Set to Take on UMass Boston Thursday at 6 p.m.

KEENE, N.H. 10/27/10 – Thursday night inside Keene State College's Spaulding Gymnasium will be special for a few reasons. The Owls (22-9, 6-0 LEC) will be squaring off against the UMass-Boston (23-2, 6-0 LEC) for the Little East Conference regular season championship and home-court advantage for the conference tournament next week.

The Owls, who started the season 4-6, have gone 18-3 in their last 21 matches to storm into 14th in the New England Women's Volleyball Association (NEWVA) poll. KSC is 19-6 against teams in New England, including their upset victory over M.I.T. back on September 4th.

The Beacons, the defending conference champions, are ranked No. 1 in the NEWVA poll while also receiving 30 votes in the Division III American Volleyball Coaches Association national poll.

 "This game is a big deal," said KSC head coach Bob Weiner. "They are number one in the region and we are number 14 so this match has major regional implications as well."

Also, because it is KSC's final regular-season home match, the squad will be celebrating senior day for the class of Sammy Datti (Durham, N.H.), Jamie Levine (Medfield, Mass.) and Julie Bernier (Valhalla, N.Y.). Some teams might pick an earlier game that they can easily win, but the team had a different idea. "I offered to the ladies the option of making the Salve Regina match the all important senior day game," said Weiner. "They said no way, we want it for the most important match of the year and that is against UMass-Boston."

Leading the Beacons is sophomore middle-hitter Shannon Thompson (Moorpark, California) with 344 kills and a conference leading 4.1 kills per set.  "Thompson is a very talented volleyball player," said Weiner. "She is a big kid who can do it all and we will have to focus on her to be successful."

Spearheading the Owls attack, juniors Kristen Girard (Tivoli, N.Y.), Bridget O'Bryant (Merrimack, N.H.) and Ellyse Davis (Londonderry, N.H.) lead the Owls in kills. Girard's 352 kills is good for second in the conference, while O'Bryant and Davis have totaled 295 and 227 kills on the season. "A big focus in women's college volleyball is having your best hitters swing against just one blocker. When you have three hitters as good as Girard, O'Bryant and Davis it helps spread the other team out and make that possible. Our lefties Braelan O'Toole (Derry, N.H.) and Ali Facchini (Niantic, Conn.) also help us out with some nice offense from the right-side," said Weiner.

Defensively, KSC is led by Levine with 543 digs and 4.89 digs per set, both good for second in the LEC. Earlier in the season, Levine broke the school record for digs in a match with 39 in the five-set victory over Western Conn. State on the road. Quarterbacking the Owls attack junior setter Laurie Whalen (Niantic, Conn.) who is averaging 8.69 assists per set and 947 total assists on the season.

Since joining the Little East Conference, KSC is 11-3 against the Beacons, and won eight matches in a row from 2002-2008, including the Little East Conference title in 2008 to advance to the NCAA Tournament for the first time in school history.

The Owls, who will be playing their 11th home match of the season, enjoy the "home-cooking" of Spaulding Gymnasium with a 9-1 win-loss record on the year. "I hope we turn out a good crowd," said Weiner. "I hope it's a great match."

Thursday at 6 p.m. in Spaulding Gymnasium. Be there.