BOSTON, Mass. -Â The University of Massachusetts Dartmouth volleyball team picked up a Little East Conference (LEC) victory Wednesday night at UMass Boston in three sets (25-23, 25-16, 25-20).
The Corsairs improve to 14-6 and 3-2 in the LEC, while the Beacons drop to 5-14 and 1-4 in the conference. UMass Dartmouth is on the verge of clinching its second-consecutive LEC Tournament berth.
Junior
Devon Laing recorded a double-double with 12 kills and 12 digs, while sophomore
Kate Wade finished with 10 kills, six digs and three aces. Freshman
Emily Pogorelec, as she routinely does, led all players with 21 digs. The freshmen duo of
Sabrina Bordone (16) and
Emma Rousseau (15) were the top-assist getters for the Corsairs.
UMass Dartmouth had to come-from-behind in the first set. After trailing, 21-17, a pair of Beacon errors and an ace from Bordone cut it to 21-20. A UMass Boston kill extended the home teams lead to 22-20, but a 5-1 run with kills by Wade, sophomore
Chelsea Sanker and junior
Maggie Sullivan made it a 1-0 match lead.
The Corsairs stayed in control throughout most of the second set. Tied at seven, kills by Laing and an ace from junior
Marley Alexander made it a10-7 UMass Dartmouth lead. The Corsairs then closed the set on a 15-9 run, including six-straight points where Laing tallied two kills and Alexander had another ace.
UMass Boston went up, 6-0, to begin the third set, but the Corsairs flipped the script and used a 15-4 run to take a 15-10 advantage. The Beacons did their best to close the gap, making it 21-10 late, but again the Corsairs used a kill by Wade to spark a 4-0 spurt to finish the match.
UMass Dartmouth is at West Conn next for a tri-match on Saturday. The Corsairs first take on the Wolves at 12 p.m. before meeting William Paterson at 2 p.m.
