DARTMOUTH, Mass. – The University of Massachusetts Dartmouth volleyball team lost both matches of its tri-match Saturday against WestConn 3-1 (18-25, 25-22, 10-25, 17-25) and Salve Regina 3-0 (23-25, 21-25, 15-25).
Freshman
Kate Wade led the Corsairs (8-9, 3-3 LEC) with 11 kills in each match, while sophomore
Devon Laing topped the team with 18 digs against WestConn (15-5, 4-2 LEC) and 10 versus Salve (10-8, 3-2 CCC).
VS. WESTCONN
It was WestConn who came out on top in a key LEC battle and moved to a second-place tie in the conference standings, while UMass Dartmouth drops to fourth in the rankings.
WestConn scored the first four points of the match and eventually took a 7-3 lead early after five kills. Laing and sophomore
Marley Alexander then each notched a kill of their own to make it a 10-7 game. WestConn went on an 11-4 run to build a 21-11 lead and take the set, 25-18.
A pair of kills by freshman
Lauryn Latimore tied the score at seven in the second set. WestConn then rattled off a 9-1 run to take a 16-8 advantage. The Corsairs answered with a 9-1 run themselves that was capped off with kills by Laing, Latimore and Wade to tie the set at 17. After the team traded the next few points, UMassD scored the final four, with kills by sophomore
Gabriella Monico and Alexander to even the match.
WestConn dominated the third set, taking a 16-5 lead and outscoring UMassD, 9-5, in the second half of the set to take it, 25-10.
After Wade's kill put the Corsairs up 1-0 in the fourth, WestConn scored five straight and never relinquished the lead, eventually jumping ahead to an 18-9 advantage. Kills from Laing and Latimore cut the deficit to 23-17, but WestConn scored the final two points to finish the match.
VS. SALVE REGINA
UMass Dartmouth led for the majority of the first set. The Corsairs used kills by Latimore, sophomore
Maggie Sullivan, Wade, Alexander and Laing and block to jump ahead, 15-10. Wade then had a pair of kills and an ace to extend the advantage to 20-16. Salve then turned up the intensity and closed the set on a 9-3 run to take the first set, 25-23.
A
Devon Laing ace, a pair of kills by Latimore, and another ace from Monico gave UMassD a 9-4 lead in the second set. Salve did not let that shake them as the Seahawks used 12 kills and an ace across a 15-6 run to go ahead, 19-15, and finish the second set with a 25-21 win.
It was all Salve in the third. The Seahawks went up 12-3 and maintained that lead to take it, 25-15, to win the match.
The Corsairs are back at home against Emmanuel on Tuesday at 7 p.m.
