CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – The University of Massachusetts Dartmouth women's volleyball team's 2023 season comes to its conclusion following a 3-0 (11-25, 13-25, 20-25) loss to Claremont-Mudd-Scripps in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Thursday. The Corsairs' finish their outstanding season with a record of 20-7 and a perfect Little East Conference record of 8-0. The Athenas move along in the Tournament and now boast a 23-5 overall record after posting a 14-2 conference mark. They will take on Salisbury, who defeated Williams in a five-set match earlier in the day.
In an opening set with several long volleys, Claremont-Mudd-Scripps took a 25-11 win thanks to a balanced offensive attack. The Athenas saw three kills from each of junior Brenna Bell and senior Jenna Holmes. Holmes is the reigning National Player of the Year from 2022 and showed why in this key NCAA Tournament match.
CMS kept rolling with the momentum they built after a 25-11 first set win. The Athenas pulled ahead 10-5 early in the second frame. The Corsairs tried to battle their way back into it but could not close the five-point gap. Despite multiple kills in the set from junior
Chelsea Sanker, UMass Dartmouth was unable to withstand the CMS attack headed by Holmes with three more kills and by junior Dede Carranza who recorded a trio of consecutive aces. The Athenas claimed a 2-0 lead after taking the set, 25-13.
The Corsairs made their strongest effort in the third set with their backs against the wall. After falling behind 12-6 early in the set, UMass Dartmouth showed their resilience by fighting their way back into the set. A service ace from freshman
Skye Peters cut the Athenas' lead down to four at 12-8. The Corsairs kept a tight margin, and cut the lead down to just three after a kill from senior
Gabriella Monico and a couple CMS errors. UMD continued the fight, not ready to give up on their season, with Sanker and senior
Devon Laing adding a flurry of kills that kept the match at a 22-19 distance. Bell put Claremont-Mudd-Scripps on match point with a kill, and the 2022 Player of the Year in Holmes closed out the tight set with an ace. The Athena's claimed the 3-0 victory with a 25-20 win in the final frame.
Sanker led the Corsairs' attack with seven kills, followed by Laing and Wade who each added four. The trio of attackers struggled to deal with the height in front for CMS. Wade had a solid all-around performance by adding eight digs, an ace and a block assist. For the 26
th time this season, Peters reached double-digit assists with 11.
Claremont-Mudd-Scripps will move on and play Salisbury in the second round of the NCAA Tournament, thanks largely to the play of the reigning National Player of the Year. Holmes recorded a match-best 13 kills on .550 hitting. She also added two aces, a block assist and five digs to her day. Senior and star setter Georgia McGovern tallied 33 total assists and 10 digs while adding three kills as well.
The Little East Conference Champions had an outstanding 2023 season. Despite the first-round Tournament exit, this was the Corsairs most successful season in program history and you can't help but feel happy for this team and excited for what's to come. UMD won its first ever Little East Conference Championship and reached the NCAA Tournament, also a program first. Head Coach
Justin Turco has turned this program into a 20-win team and conference powerhouse within his first two seasons coaching at UMass Dartmouth. The Corsairs will look to build upon this year's success in 2024, as they will be returning a large majority of the roster including the Little East Conference Tournament's Most Outstanding Player,
Kate Wade, and the two-time LEC Defensive Player of the Year,
Emily Pogorelec. UMD will see four seniors graduate who will not be returning next season;
Devon Laing,
Maggie Sullivan,
Gabriella Monico, and
Annika Laudemann.
