DARTMOUTH, Mass. – In a battle between undefeated conference teams, Plymouth State University gutted out a 3-2 (25-16, 22-25, 25-16, 23-25, 15-7) victory over UMass Dartmouth in Little East Conference volleyball action on Saturday. The Panthers move to 24-3 overall and 8-0 in the LEC, earning the top seed for the upcoming playoffs, while the Corsairs are now 21-6 with a 7-1 mark in conference action.
Both teams have earned a bye in the quarterfinals and will host the conference semifinals next Thursday. UMass Dartmouth will enter this year's playoffs as the second-seed in the LEC field.
Four players reached double figures in kills for the Panthers, paced by graduate student and outside hitter Nora Ryan, who recorded 15 kills overall including the 1,000th of her career. She added four digs, two block assists and a service ace. Grad student and right side Riley McNeeley added 11 kills with a block assist, while senior outside hitter Lilli Stogner and sophomore outside hitter Emma Hampton each had 10 kills. Senior defensive specialist Makayla Marucci added 30 digs with 11 assists, while first year setter Danielle Emerson had 26 assists and 14 digs with three service aces.
For the Corsairs, rookie right side
Olivia Seutter finished with a match-best 16 kills, adding a block assist and a dig, while senior outside hitter and captain
Kate Wade added 11 kills with 13 digs and three service aces. She also had two block assists. Sophomore outside hitter
Allison Pate finished with 11 kills and 13 digs with an ace, while senior opposite and captain
Chelsea Sanker had 10 kills with eight digs, a block solo and two block assists. Sophomore setter
Skye Peters posted 21 assists and 20 digs with a service ace.
After falling behind in the opening set, the Corsairs battled back in the second set. Trailing by a 19-17 margin, UMass Dartmouth got a kill from Wade, coupled with two attacking errors on the Panthers to regain the 20-19 lead. The visitors tied it up, but a 5-2 run with two kills from Pate and Seutter saw the Corsairs tie the match at 1-all.
The Corsairs fell behind 2-1, but once again battled in the third frame, taking a 9-5 lead behind a kill from Wade. The Panthers pushed the score close once against on an ace from Emerson (11-10), but a 4-0 run helped push the margin to 18-13. Plymouth State continued to press, making it a 23-22 score late, but an error by the visitors and a kill from sophomore outside hitter
Ella Soutter gave the Corsairs the win and tied the match at 2-2.
In the fifth set, the two teams kept things close with Plymouth holding a narrow 8-6 lead following an attacking error point for the Corsairs. But the lead quickly grew as five straight points – including kills from Hampton and Stogner – opened a 13-6 lead. The Corsairs worked to battle back behind a kill from Seutter, but the Panthers earned the set and match win a Stogner and senior right side Lindsey Sanderson each laid down kills for the victory.
UMass Dartmouth will host the LEC Semifinals on Thursday, November 14 at 7pm against Tuesday's quarterfinal match between #3 UMass Boston and #6 Keene State. Plymouth State will face the winner of Tuesday's match between #4 Western Connecticut State and #5 Eastern Connecticut State at 5pm Thursday.
