BOSTON, Mass. – It was a solid day of competition for the UMass Dartmouth women's volleyball team, posting a 1-1 mark in tri-match road action. The Corsairs opened with a 3-1 victory over WPI, but shouldered a tough 3-0 loss to Emerson in the second match of the day. UMassD moves to 7-6 on the season.
In the opener against the Engineers, UMassD fell behind as WPI opened with a narrow 25-23 set victory. The Corsairs battled back in a big way over the final three sets, posting scores of 25-11, 25-15 and 25-9 to capture the win.
After falling behind in the opening set, the Corsairs made a big statement, opening the second stanza with a 5-0 run, including kills from junior outside hitter
Kate Wade and a service ace by sophomore libero
Emily Pogorelec. Out of a timeout, the Engineers gained a point back, but another 3-0 run by UMassD, including another kill from Wade, put them up 8-1.
The Corsairs owned a 20-7 lead following a kill by senior middle hitter
Maggie Sullivan, but the Engineers battled back, closing the gap to 21-11, but kills from Wade and Sullivan, along with set point from senior opposite
Gabriella Monico closed out the set.
Third set remained close – both teams tied at 6-all – before 9-0 run by the Corsairs made it a 15-6 advantage. A kill from Monico later made it an 18-9 margin. WPI went on a 4-0 run, but a kill from junior opposite
Chelsea Sanker, along with back-to-back kills from Wade made it a Corsairs third set win.
Fourth set action saw the Corsairs open up a 17-4 lead. The Engineers pulled it to within 21-9, but two kills from rookie outside hitter
Marina Loizou, along with a pair of service aces from first year defensive specialist
Izzy Kuykendall closed out the match.
Sullivan posted nine kills and just one error on 17 swings for the game, adding an assist with three blocks (1 solo) and a dig). Senior outside hitter
Devon Laing notched 11 kills with nine digs, while Wade had eight kills and two errors on 26 swings. Wade also added 14 digs. Pogorelec notched five assists, five service aces and a game-best 24 digs. Setters
Skye Peters and
Sabrina Bordone posted 16 and 15 assists, respectively.
Against Emerson, the Corsairs faced a tough Lions squad that opened with a 25-11 victory in the first set. In the second set, the two teams kept it very tight, neither leading by more than a point until the 7-7 mark as UMassD took advantage of a pair of attacking errors, along with a Wade kill to open a 10-7 advantage.
It continued to remain close throughout as a service error went in favor of the Corsairs to tie it at 21-all. Emerson's Maya Hall pushed the home team ahead once again, but a kill from rookie middle hitter
Maddie Carter evened the set at 22-all. Despite that momentum, the Corsairs could not hold off the Lions, who scored three straight points – all on attacking errors to close out the set win.
Emerson went on to post a dominant 25-8 set win in the third to claim the match victory.
Parker Cummings led the way for the Lions, posting 11 kills with eight digs. Brooke Maynez added 10 kills with three block assists, while Caroline Davis had 15 digs. Isabella Cubba added three kills with three block solos and four block assists.
For the Corsairs, junior middle blocker
Monika Kristjansdottir had six kills with three block assists. Sanker added four kills, as Wade posted four kills with an ace, two block assists and five digs. Peters and Bordone each had eight assists in the match.
UMass Dartmouth returns to the court on Wednesday when it hosts Wentworth at 7pm in the Tripp Athletic Center. The Corsairs will then host Southern Maine in LEC action on Saturday in the Game of the Week at 1pm.
