CASTLETON, Vt. – On its longest road trip of the year, the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth volleyball team won both if its matches over Castleton, 3-0 (25-10, 25-17, 26-16), and MCLA, 3-1 (25-11, 25-16, 24-26, 25-21).
With the two wins, the Corsairs improve to 11-10 and move to fifth place in the Little East Conference standings with a 4-3 league record. The Spartans drop to 4-16 and 0-7 in the LEC, while MCLA falls to 9-10 on the year.
VS. CASTLETON
Sophomore
Marley Alexander led the Corsairs with nine kills, five aces and five blocks. Junior
Vanessa Barreto recorded 15 digs and four aces, while freshman
Zoe Dizenzo finished with 24 assists.
UMass Dartmouth gradually built a 16-7 lead in the first set with kills by Alexander, sophomore
Devon Laing, freshman
Kate Wade and sophomore
Maggie Sullivan. Laing and Wade kept the pressure coming and Alexander finished off the set with back-to-back kills to make it a 1-0 match advantage.
A kill by freshman
Lauryn Latimore sparked a 9-0 run to put the Corsairs on top, 9-1, in the second set. UMassD never looked back as two consecutive aces from Alexander and kills by freshman Monika Kristjandottir, Latimore and Wade were enough to take the second, 25-17.
The Corsairs ran off to an 8-3 advantage that was capped off with an ace from Baretto. Alexander, Sullivan and Wade then collected kills as the lead went up to 22-16. Alexander then finished the match with three-straight aces for the sweep.
VS. MCLA
Alexander had another strong performance with 11 kills and three blocks. Sophomore
Gabriella Monico and Laing each had five aces, while Laing registered 18 digs and nine kills.
The Corsairs got off to a scorching start in the first, using kills by Wade, Laing and Alexander to take a 19-7 lead. Wade and Latimore finished off the first set with kills to take the set.
The second set went about the same as the first. First it was a 9-0 lead, then it ballooned to 20-11. Kills by Alexander and Laing finished it off to make it a 2-0 match lead.
UMassD went up 6-1 before MCLA found some momentum and closed the gap with a 9-2 run to go up, 10-8. The score stayed close throughout the rest of the set and eventually evened at 24. MCLA then picked up the final two points on errors by the Corsairs to send the match to a fourth set.
The fourth went back-and-forth until the score was equal at 17. Alexander and Laing then jolted the Corsairs to an 8-4 run with a block by Kristjandottir and Laing to finish the match.
UMass Dartmouth remains on the road for its final non-conference match of the regular season at Bridgewater State on Wednesday at 6 p.m.
