Harford, Conn. – Sophomore L Kristen Cooprider (Hopkinton, Mass.) led the way with 28 digs, as the Trinity College Bantams came back from a 2-0 deficit and won dramatic victories in the fourth (27-25) and fifth sets (16-14) to record a 3-2 victory over the Western New England University Golden Bears on the second day of the Trinity College Volleyball Invitational this afternoon at Oosting Gymnasium.  Trinity, ranked No. 7 in New England, closed the day with a 3-1 setback against the Worcester Polytechnic Institute Engineers as all six teams competing went 1-1 today. 

Trinity moves to 6-2, while the Golden Bears, ranked No. 10 in New England finish the day at 7-3 after edging the Brandeis University Judges, 3-2, in their second match.  Eastern Connecticut rallied back from a 3-0 loss to Brandeis to down Westfield State by the same score, and Westfield State posted a 3-1 win over the Engineers in the first match for both squads.  Brandeis is 2-6, while Eastern Connecticut is 5-3, and Westfield State is 3-7.  Trinity finished 3-1, Western New England was 2-1, Eastern Connecticut, Brandeis, aNd Westfield State all went 1-2, and Worcester Tech was 1-1 for the weekend. 

Trailing, 2-0, in both its matches today, Trinity rallied back to win the third set, 25-19, against the Golden Bears.  Sophomore S Randi Whitham (South Weymouth, Mass.) served up five straight points to turn a 16-14 lead into a 21-14 advantage to key the victory.  In the fourth set, the teams traded lead several times before the Bantams scored two in a row for 27-25 win, and juniors Hunter Drews (Clifton Park, N.Y.) and Katie Stueber (Darien, Conn.) notched the clinching 16^th point with a block in the fifth set.  Junior MH Kate Giddens (Rancho Palos Verdes, Calif.) had a team-high 10 kills to go with two aces, 14 digs, and five blocks, while Stueber finished with 12 digs and eight blocks. 

Trinity rallied again in the third set against the Engineers with another 27-25 triumph, leading for the majority of the set, but WPI recovered from a 5-1 start to take the fourth set, 25-20.  Tri-captains Drews and Giddens made 10 kills apiece in the match, and pair added 11 and 17 digs, respectively.  Cooprider totaled a team-high 19 digs and rookie Anne Hay (New York, N.Y.) added six blocks.

Maddie Engeler (Sandusky, Ohio) had 12 kills to lead Brandeis past Eastern Connecticut, while Shannon Shea (Chelmsford, Mass.) had two aces and 23 digs for Westfield State against WPI, and Shay Feeley (Franklin, Mass.) notched 31 assists and 10 digs in the same match for the Engineers.  Jenna Leuck (Dumont, N.J.) registered 18 assists and five aces against for WNE against Brandeis, and Julie Kim assisted 32 points for Brandeis in the same match.  Adrianna Mihalek (Woodbury, Conn.) paced Eastern Connecticut against Westfield State with 13 kills.

MATCH SCORES
Friday
Trinity 3, Westfield State 0
(25-21, 25-15, 25-9)
Trinity 3, Brandeis 0
(25-18, 25-19, 25-20)
Western New England 3, Eastern Connecticut 0
((25-17, 25-8, 25-11)
Saturday
Trinity 3, Western New England 2
(15-25, 16-25, 25-19, 27-25, 16-14)
Brandeis 3, Eastern Connecticut 0
(25-18, 25-20, 25-23)
Westfield State 3, Worcester Tech 1
(21-25, 25-12, 25-23, 25-17)
Western New England 3, Brandeis 2
(25-17, 13-25, 25-10, 20-25, 15-7)
Worcester Tech 3, Trinity 1
(25-21, 25-17, 25-27, 25-20)
Eastern Connecticut 3, Westfield State 0
(25-15, 25-18, 25-17)