Corsairs Lock up Home-Court Advantage in LEC Tournament

DARTMOUTH, Mass. - The University of Massachusetts Dartmouth volleyball team captured another Little East Conference (LEC) victory Saturday afternoon with a sweep over Castleton (25-14, 25-13, 25-16) at the Tripp Athletic Center. The Corsairs then fell in a hard-fought battle to WPI (30-28, 25-19, 25-14).

The Corsairs move to 17-7 overall and 5-2 in the LEC, while the Spartans drop to 5-19 and 0-7 in the conference, and the Engineers improve to 14-8 after winning both of their matches on the day.

With the victory over Castleton, UMass Dartmouth has locked up home court advantage for the third time in program history, joining the 2000 and 2001 teams.

VS. CASTLETON
UMass Dartmouth rolled to victory in the most important match of the day with a clean sweep over the Spartans. The Corsairs now sit in third place in the LEC standings and cannot fall below fourth with the tie-breaker over West Conn.

Junior Devon Laing led the team with nine kills, 14 digs and four aces, while sophomore Chelsea Sanker tallied eight kills and classmate Kate Wad had seven kills and nine digs. Junior Annika Laudemann finished with 10 digs and three aces, while freshmen Sabrina Bordone (18) and Emma Roussaeu (12) led the way in the assist department.

Laing and Wade each tallied a kill and two aces to help the Corsairs jump ahead to a 10-5 lead. Castleton would hang around and cut its deficit to 11-8. UMass Dartmouth then ran away with a 14-3 run with kills by sophomore Monika Kristjansdottir, junior Maggie Sullivan, Sanker, Wade and junior Marley Alexander.

With the score even at four in the second set, kills by Wade and Laing started a 6-0 spurt to make it a 10-4 advantage. A pair of kills and ace from Kristjansdottir brought the advantage to 15-5. Kills by Laing and Sanker finished it off to give the Corsairs a 2-0 lead in the match.

UMass Dartmouth wasted no time closing the match in three sets. Two kills and two aces from Laing and a kill by Sullivan made it a quick, 5-1 lead. Castleton then traded points until it was a 20-15 advantage. The Corsairs then finished it off with a 5-1 run with back-to-back aces from Laudemann. 

VS. WPI
This time it was the Engineers getting the best of the Corsairs in the final match of the day.

Wade led the way with 13 kills and six digs, while freshman Emily Pogorelec tallied 17 digs and Laing finished with 10 digs.

The first set was highly competitive and required extra points. UMass Dartmouth took a 5-1 advantage after two aces and a kill by Bordone, followed by a kill by junior Gabriella Monico. WPI then matched the Corsairs' energy and quickly evened the score. The teams went back-and-forth until UMass Dartmouth looked to be in control with a 28-27 advantage. WPI then scored three-straight points with a kill, a Corsair error and an ace.

UMass Dartmouth kept things close in the second set, but could never overcome the Engineers. Down 11-9, a pair of WPI errors evened the score. UMass Dartmouth stayed close, eventually bringing the score to 20-19, but WPI finished the set on a 5-0 run to take a 2-0 match lead.

The third set was decided early. WPI jumped ahead to a 7-1 advantage and never looked back, winning 25-14 to take the match.

UP NEXT

UMass Dartmouth hosts Bridgewater State on Wednesday at 7 p.m. The team will celebrate junior Marley Alexander, who will be graduating a year early.