DARTMOUTH, Mass. – The University of Massachusetts Dartmouth volleyball team defeated instate rivals the University of Massachusetts Boston on Thursday night in three straight sets (27-19, 25-19, 25-18) to advance to the Little East Conference Championship match. Corsairs improved to 22-6 overall record with the victory while the Beacons concluded their season with a 19-9 overall record.
The Beacons jumped out to a 2-0 lead to open the match before sophomore
Allison Pate tallied the first kill for the Corsairs off the assist from junior
Emily Pogorelec. Senior
Kate Wade and first year
Olivia Seutter each recorded their first kills of the match to even the score up at 4-4. UMass Boston soon generated a 5-0 run finished off by a kill from Addie Blomgren to pull away with a 10-6 advantage.
After a UMass Dartmouth timeout, the Beacons continued to build momentum extending their lead to 15-6 featuring three kills by Mya Perron. Senior
Chelsea Sanker disrupted the visitor's energy with her first kill of the night off the assist from junior
Sabrina Bordone. Following a service error by the Beacons, the Corsairs connected four points to cut UMass Boston's lead down to 18-14.
Down 23-16 in the opening set, the Corsairs fought their way back with an 8-1 run highlighted by two kills and service ace by Wade to tie the score up 24-24. After Pate gave UMass Dartmouth a 28-27 edge, senior
Monika Kristjansdottir and Seutter blocked Perron's attack to seal the 29-27 first set win for the Corsairs.
UMass Boston once again took an early 5-2 to start the second set of the match. The home team quickly responded by going on a five-point run featuring four kills by Wade and a pair of kills from Seutter to go ahead 8-5 in the set. First year
Ella Soutter notched a kill to give UMass Dartmouth a 14-9 edge. The Beacons kept battling as Lauren Westlund tallied a kill to make it a four-point match.
Corsairs pulled away with a 23-15 lead late in the set, but the Beacons were able to win four of the next five points to make it 24-19. Pate slammed her fourth kill of the contest to put UMass Dartmouth ahead 2-0 with a 25-19 win in the second set.
UMass Boston came out strong to open set three as Mary Matthews produced a pair of aces to give the visitors a 6-2 edge. The Corsairs answered with a 5-0 run highlighted by a service ace from Bordone and a kill by Soutter to take a 7-6 lead. UMass Dartmouth continued to extend their advantage, generating a 6-0 run to go up 13-7 midway through the third.
A Westlund kill narrowed the Corsairs advantage to just two-points, but the home team fought back as Kristjansdottir recorded a kill to claim a four-point cushion. Both teams exchanged points as the set progressed with Wade tallying a pair of kills to help UMass Dartmouth extend their lead to 21-15. Pate once again drilled the match point for the Corsairs off the assist from Bordone to cement UMass Dartmouth's ticket to the LEC Championship match by a final score of 3-0.
Wade led the squad with a team-high 15 kills in the win to go along with 11, three block assists, and one assist. Seutter also tallied double-digits in kills with 12 kills and four digs. On the defensive end, Pate recorded a career-high 32 digs in the three set victory as well as eight kills and a block assist. Pogorelec ended the match with 24 total digs and a pair of assists. Sophomore
Skye Peters and Bordone led the team on the passing effort combining for 39 total assists.
The Corsairs will face off against the Panthers of Plymouth State University on Saturday, Nov. 16 for the 2024 LEC Championship match. The title match is scheduled for a 4:00 p.m. start time from Foley Gymnasium.
