Gordon improves to 10-8 overall and 3-2 in the Commonwealth Coast Conference, while Western New England falls to 8-6 and 2-1 in the CCC.
The Fighting Scots faced a tall task of attempting to knock off the Golden Bears, who are continuously among the conference's elite teams. Coming into the night, Western New England had swept Gordon in six consecutive appearances dating back to the 2008 season.
Gordon came out swinging out of the gate, quickly building a 5-0 lead in the first set. The Scots led by as many as six in the set, but Western New England battled all the way back to tie the match at 20 points. The Fighting Scots have struggled to find their footing in close sets at times this season, but Gordon looked confident in taking five of the final six points to take an early edge.
The Plaid raced out to the early lead again in the second frame with a 9-4, but Western New England refused to go away. The Golden Bears won five of the next six points, capped off by a kill from Alona Kornberg (Fair Lawn, N.J.), to pull back within a tally.
The scales tipped back in the other direction as Gordon went on a 9-2 run and opened a 19-11 lead. Carleigh Petersen (North Hills, Calif.) proved to be big during the run with a pair of kills.
Western New England got back within as many as three points at the very end, but Gordon was able to hold on for a 25-18 lead.
The third set followed a similar pattern with Gordon grabbing a lead and Western New England countering with a run of its own. With Gordon leading 12-10, the Fighting Scots went on an eight-point tear to take a big lead. The Golden Bears could only muster three points the rest of the way and Gordon closed out the three-game sweep.
Carly Skibinski (Milford, N.J.) led the Golden Bears with nine kills and a .353 hitting percentage. Olivia Lathrop (Farmington, Conn.) added seven kills as well. Jessica Sincero (Verplanck, N.Y.) put up 11 assists, while splitting setting duties with Jenna Leuck (Dumont, N.J.), who led the Bears with eight digs.
Gordon's well-oiled machine was run by freshman Renee Cooprider (Hopkinton, Mass.), who set up 32 kills on the night. Petersen powered the attack with 14 kills and added five digs. Maggie Risma (Hudson, Ohio) had another strong match with 14 digs to pace the Gordon defense. Meghan Hokanson (Coon Rapids, Minn.) had a solo block and four block assists.
Gordon is back in action on Saturday when they host Pine Manor for a pair of matches. Western New England travels to Roger Williams on Friday.
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