BRISTOL, R.I. – The second-seeded Roger Williams University Volleyball team plays host to sixth-seeded Western New England University in a Commonwealth Coast Conference Semifinals showdown at the Campus Rec Center on Thursday night. Fresh off a sweep of Suffolk University on Tuesday evening, the Hawks seek their 13^th CCC Finals appearance, and fourth in a row when they battle the upstart Golden Bears.
 
RWU weathered a tough early season schedule with some challenging out of conference opponents but hit their stride at just the right time entering CCC play and are 10-4 since October 23^rd including a dominating sweep of Suffolk a couple days ago. They stand with a record of 10-10 overall this fall and finished the regular season 7-2 against conference foes. WNE, on the other hand, stands at 12-13 this season and went 4-5 in conference play before upsetting Gordon College in four sets in the CCC Semifinals.
 
For The Hawks
Roger Williams features one of the most balanced rosters in the Commonwealth Coast Conference with experience and talent at every position on the court. As a team, the Hawks are third in the conference with 11.60 kills per set, second in hitting percentage at .207, fifth in digs, averaging 15.42, and second in blocks, at 1.90 per frame. Against CCC foes, RWU has been even better, pacing the conference in blocks and digs while ranking second with a .239 hitting percentage and accumulating 12.30 kills per set.
 
Roger Williams has a strong argument as the top defensive team in the conference and they are headlined by the CCC Libero of the Year, Jaime Gaffga (Mattituck, N.Y.). Gaffga is second in the conference with 4.63 digs per set but has a meager 15 reception errors in 332 attempts. As a result, her .955 reception percentage is the best on the team and among the best in the conference.
 
Also pitching in on the RWU back line will be Kate Grabowski (Hebron, Conn.) and Lauren Burbidge (Cazenovia, N.Y.). Burbidge has averaged 2.02 digs per set in limited action this season but is fresh off one of her strongest performances of the fall after recording four service aces against Suffolk on Tuesday. Grabowski, meanwhile, ranks 25^th in the CCC with 2.40 digs per set.
 
At the net, the Hawks will deploy their all-conference pair of middle blockers in Tori Melanson (North Attleboro, Mass.) and Jasmine Babbitt (Charlestown, R.I.). Both are efficient offensively and stout at the net for RWU. Melanson made the All-CCC Second Team this fall with a team-best .334 hitting percentage that ranked fourth in the conference in addition to 0.83 blocks per frame, the third most in the CCC, and is also the team's top server with 22 service aces on the fall. She is a real X-factor for the Hawks as she averages 1.82 kills per set in Roger Williams victories against just 1.57 when the Hawks have lost. The same can be said for Babbitt as she has posted 1.62 kills per set in wins but that number plummets to an even 1.00 in RWU losses. She is second in the conference with 0.88 blocks per frame while her .310 hitting percentage is fifth.
 
Lining up on each side of that pair is Kristen Dansereau (Killingworth, Conn.) and Allie Welch (Marlborough, Conn.). Dansereau has enjoyed a breakout junior season and ranks second on the team and 19^th in the conference with 2.19 kills per set while attacking from the left side. Opposite her is Welch who is third on the team and 23^rd in the CCC with 1.99 kills per frame to go with 0.49 blocks per frame.
 
All of this leads into the Co-CCC Player of the Year in Katherine Pickard (St. Petersburg, Fla.) who concluded the season pacing the conference in kills per set with 3.87 while hitting .208, the 15^th best rate in the CCC. She combines volume and efficiency like few others in the conference but what sets her apart is her ability defensively as she also ranks fourth on the Hawks with 2.25 digs per stanza and is 15^th in the conference averaging 0.49 total blocks per frame.
 
Setting up all these weapons is the All-CCC Second Team member, Kate Porter (Killingworth, Conn.). Porter sits atop the conference with 9.44 assists per set, the highest the program has seen since 2011, while also pitching in 2.65 digs per frame, the second highest mark on the roster.
 
For The Golden Bears
Fresh off an upset victory over third-seeded Gordon, Western New England enters the semifinals looking to play spoiler once again. Featuring a rotation with a good blend of youth and experience, the Golden Bears enter the contest as an intriguing two-way squad that seems better than their 12-13 record would indicate. Overall, this season, they are sixth in the Commonwealth Coast Conference with 15.15 digs per set while ranking fourth in blocks with 1.38. On offense, they are inefficient, hitting .138 as a team, but still rank fifth in the CCC with 10.96 kills per set and are very strong in the service game, averaging 2.66 service aces per stanza.
 
The top weapon for the Golden Bears is their All-CCC Third Team selection, Sarah Scott (Granby, Mass.). Scott leads the team and is eighth in the conference with 2.91 kills per set while hitting .157. She is also a strong contributor defensively as she is second on the team and tenth in the CCC with 3.19 digs per frame in addition to 0.27 blocks per set.
 
On the outside, WNE will deploy Olivia Hall (Haverhill, Mass.) and Alissa Hawes (Tupelo, Mass.). Hall is similar to Scott in how she factors in both offensively and defensively. She is second on the Golden Bears with 2.23 kills per stanza while pitching in a 2.54 digs per game average. Hawes contributes with 2.13 kills on the right side while factoring into the blocking game with 0.44 blocks per set.
 
Those two will flank the middle blocking pair of Abigail Bundy (Lebanon, Conn.) and Isabelle Petty (North Yarmouth, Maine). Bundy is a strong two-way threat averaging 1.47 kills per set while hitting .146, the third-best mark on the roster among qualifiers (minimum 200 attacks) and is a force in the blocking game ranking tenth in the CCC with 0.60 blocks per frame. Petty ranks just above Bundy defensively, slotting in with the eighth-best mark in blocks per frame at 0.68, but is less of a factor on offense with 1.39 kills and a .141 hitting percentage.
 
Setting up all of their attackers will be either Taylor Geist (Denver, N.C.) or Hailey Sell (Glen Allen, Va.). Sell is the projected starter and tops the roster with 7.81 assists per set along with 1.76 digs and cannot be forgotten about as she converts her attacks at a .217 rate, the best among players with 100 attacks, though she does not qualify for the conference rankings. Geist is right behind her however with 7.27 assists and is the superior server averaging 0.56 service aces per frame.
 
In the back row will be Becca Mayer (Berlin, Conn.) who leads the team and is eighth in the conference with 3.59 digs per set. She has also recorded 25 service aces this fall and will pitch in a set or two in a pinch.
 
The libero for the Golden Bears will be Taylor Deluga (Dennis, Mass.) who ranks among the best service artists in the CCC ranking fifth in the conference with 0.58 aces per set. She also pitches in 1.84 digs per stanza.
 
Previous Meetings
Roger Williams has dominated this matchup in the past, going 29-3 against the Golden Bears all time including wins in each of their last 12 matchups. The Hawks also knocked WNE out of the CCC Tournament back in 2019 quarterfinals round in four sets.
 
The two squads squared off just a couple weeks ago with RWU claiming a senior day sweep. Pickard led the Hawks with 11 kills while Melanson added ten of her own and Babbitt contributed six kills and five blocks. In addition, Porter accumulated 34 assists and three service aces. Hawes led the Golden Bears with nine kills while Bundy pitched in four kills and two blocks.
 
How To Follow Along
The scheduled start time for the match is 7:00 PM on Thursday night inside the Campus Rec Center on the campus of Roger Williams University.
 
We ask that all spectators respect the RWU COVID protocols and wear a mask when inside the Campus Rec Center for the match.
 
If you cannot make it in person, you can follow along online.
 
VIDEO: https://rwuhawks.com/sports/2012/9/14/wvb_live_video.aspx
 
LIVE STATS: https://rwuhawks.com/sidearmstats/wvball/summary