Paxton Thornton powers Western over Westfield State in 3-0 win
DANBURY, CT (Oct. 15) — Senior Paxton Thornton (Sharon, CT) hit a match-high 19 kills to lead the Western Connecticut State University volleyball team to a 3-0 non-conference win over Westfield State Saturday afternoon at Feldman Arena.
The game one scoring was even early, but with Western holding a slim 9-7 lead, senior Kelley Collins (Massapequa, NY) stepped to the service line a led the Colonials on a 7-0 run to make the lead 16-7. Westfield State fought back to narrow the gap to 16-12, but kills by Thornton and freshman Nina Wojtkiewicz (Griswold, CT) carried Western to a 25-14 final score in game one.
Wojtkiewicz began the serving for Western in game two and quickly moved the Colonials out to a 4-0 advantage, helped in part by two more Thornton kills. Thornton continued to power the Colonial hitting attack, but Westfield State drew even at 8-all. Two more Thornton kills and two aces by Collins pushed Western back to a 19-12 lead, and even a late run by the Owls couldn’t stop Western from prevailing 25-20.
Game three belong to Western from start to finish. Behind the serving of sophomore Melanie Lombardi (Danbury, CT), Western moved out to a 4-0 lead, and after two Thornton aces and a back-row kill, the Colonials led 10-3. Back to back kills by Thornton extended the lead to 20-10, and the Colonials coasted to a 25-13 win to close out the match.
For the match, Thornton led Western with 19 kills, while adding seven digs and two aces. Freshman Jennifer Hogan (Franklin Square, NY) handed out 38 assists and Collins recorded 19 digs. For Westfield State, Alex Shaw (East Falmouth, MA) led with seven kills, Emily Davisson (Carpinteria, CA) had 16 digs, and Marguerite Copeland (Woodbridge, VA) had 17 assists.
With the win, Western moves to 18-6 on the season, while Westfield State falls to 8-16. The Colonials return to action on Tuesday, October 18th, when Little East Conference powerhouse UMass Boston invades Feldman Arena at 6:00pm.
Western - 25 25 25 - 3
Westfield State - 14 20 13 - 0
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