CHICOPEE, Mass. -Â The sweep streak is now at five matches for the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth volleyball team after defeating Elms (25-22, 25-16, 25-23) on the road Thursday night.
The Corsairs improve to 12-5, while the Blazers drop to 6-9. The 12 victories in the most in a single season dating back to 2013.
Sophomore
Kate Wade led UMass Dartmouth with 16 kills on a .394 attack percentage. Sophomore
Chelsea Sanker tallied 10 kills on a .714 attack percentage and added five digs, while junior
Devon Laing recorded seven kills and 15 digs. Freshman
Emily Pogorelec led all players with 17 digs and three aces, while classmate
Sabrina Bordone finished with 26 assists and five digs.
Set one was a nail-biter. After a kill by Wade put the Corsairs up, 4-2, the Blazers went on a 5-1 run to take a 7-5 advantage early on. Back-to-back kills from Wade, an ace by Pogorelec and a Bordone kill eventually gave the Corsairs a 15-13 lead. Points continued to go back-and-forth until the Blazers turned a 23-17 deficit to 23-22. After a UMass Dartmouth timeout, an Elms error and a kill by Laing made it a 1-0 match lead.
UMass Dartmouth was dominant in the second half of the second set. Sanker got it started with a kill to spark an 8-3 advantage. Elms then came all the way back to eventually take a 15-13 lead. The Corsairs had enough of that and rattled off a 12-1 run with kills by Wade, Bordone, junior
Maggie Sullivan and Sanker, to go with aces from Pogorelec and Laing to put the Blazers' backs against the wall.
Elms gave the Corsairs a run for their money in third set. After starting things off on a 6-2 run, the Blazers evened the score at eight and the teams traded points until it was knotted up at 22. Sanker and junior
Marley Alexander then spiked kills to make it a 24-22 lead. Elms answered with a kill, but Sanker batted it down to finish the match.
UMass Dartmouth hosts a tri-match on Saturday. The Corsairs first face Little East Conference foe Keene State at 12 p.m. before meeting Dean at 4 p.m.
