DARTMOUTH, Mass. – Behind a career and match-high 19 kills from rookie
Olivia Seutter, the UMass Dartmouth volleyball team notched a 3-0 (25-8, 25-11, 25-8) victory over Keene State in Little East Conference action on Saturday afternoon. The Corsairs move to 15-5 overall with a 3-0 mark in conference play, while the Owls are now 8-12 and 1-3 in the LEC.
Seutter, who had 19 kills and just one error on 27 swings for a .667 hitting percentage, also added a dig and three block assists in the match. Senior outside hitter
Kate Wade recorded 12 kills with just two errors on 25 swings for a .400 percentage while also adding 11 digs. Junior defensive specialist
Emily Pogorelec added four assists, two service aces and a match-best 19 digs, while sophomore setter
Skye Peters posted a match-high 27 assists with six digs.
Opening set action saw the Corsairs open up an 11-4 lead behind a service ace from Pogorelec, but the Owls gained a point back on a service error from the junior libero to pull it to 11-5. Keene State gained points back, capitalizing on two kills from Kaitlyn Cicerone and a Corsair attacking error to make it a 16-8 game, but UMass Dartmouth countered with a 9-0 run to conclude the set. Seutter led the way with four kills during the stretch.
Second set saw the Corsairs continue to dominate, opening an 8-4 lead behind a kill from sophomore outside hitter
Ella Soutter, but a Stephanie Olah kill helped the visitors close the margin to three (8-5) soon after. A 6-1 run from the home team, backed by a pair of kills from sophomore outside hitter
Allison Pate and Seutter grew the score to 15-7 and despite capitalizing on several Corsair errors, the Owls were unable to pull back in. UMassD concluded the frame with a 6-1 run again as kills from Wade and senior opposite
Chelsea Sanker paced the way.
Final set action saw UMass Dartmouth open a 15-2 margin, which included a 10-0 run backed by multiple kills from Wade, Sanker, Soutter and Seutter. Back-to-back strikes from Pate opened the gap to 18-3 and the Corsairs saw senior middle blocker
Monika Kristjansdottir and Seutter lay down kills to make it a 24-6 margin. Keene State grabbed two points back, but UMass Dartmouth secured the match victory on an Owls service error.
The Corsairs return to action on Saturday, October 19, traveling to Danbury, Conn., for a 12pm LEC showdown against the Wolves of Western Connecticut State University.
