MONTCLAIR, N.J. – It was a clean sweep for the UMass Dartmouth women's volleyball team on Saturday, recording 3-0 victories over Montclair State (25-20, 25-21, 25-19) and Vassar College (25-18, 25-18, 25-18) at the Red Hawks Season Opening Tournament in Montclair, N.J. Coupled with Friday's 3-0 win over FDU-Florham, the Corsairs open their 2024 campaign with a perfect 3-0 record.
In the opening match against the homestanding Red Hawks, the Corsairs battled back early. Down 4-1, two straight kills from rookie outside hitter
Olivia Seutter, coupled with a strike from senior captain and outside hitter
Kate Wade pushed UMass Dartmouth into a 5-4 advantage. The visitors found themselves down once again (13-12), but three kills from Seutter brought the Corsairs back to a 16-13 lead.
The Red Hawks tied things up once again, but a 4-0 rally by the Corsairs helped push them back into a lead they would not relinquish as a kill from Wade, coupled with a service ace from sophomore setter
Skye Peters delivered the opening set win.
Second set was another tight battle as the Corsairs held a 21-15 lead before Montclair State took advantage of two errors to close the gap to 21-17. The Red Hawks continued to keep pace, but UMass Dartmouth got a kill from sophomore outside hitter
Allison Pate and closed the frame out with another Wade hit for the stanza win.
Third set continued to be a tight battle as a kill from MSU's Kasey Trzaska pulled the margin to 14-13. The Corsairs got a pair of points back, but another Red Hawks kill kept it tight at 16-14. It was a 4-0 run spark from the visitors that widened the distance as two kills from Wade made it a 20-14 margin. MSU battled back late, but UMass capitalized on a pair of service errors late to seal the match victory.
UMass Dartmouth was paced by Wade, who notched 13 kills with two service aces and a match-high 13 digs. Seutter also posted 13 kills with a block assist and a block solo, while Pate finished with six kills and 12 digs, an ace and a block assist. Senior opposite and captain
Chelsea Sanker had seven kills with three digs and two block assists, while junior captain and setter
Sabrina Bordone added 19 kills with 10 digs and two aces. Junior captain and defensive specialist
Emily Pogorelec chipped in with a match-high 13 digs, adding six assists as well.
In the second match against Vassar, the Corsairs found themselves battling back as the Brewers opened with a 5-3 lead. UMass Dartmouth rallied behind kills from Pate and senior middle blocker
Monika Kristjansdottir to push ahead by a 10-7 margin, but Vassar continued to keep it close. Holding a 17-16 lead, the Corsairs went on an 8-2 run with a pair of kills coming from sophomore middle hitter
Maddie Carter to take the opening frame.
In the second set, the Corsairs owned a 7-4 lead, but the Brewers battled back with a 4-0 run with a pair of kills from Rebecca Gutierrez, to capture the 8-7 advantage. Vassar continued to hold the advantage until a 3-0 run by UMass Dartmouth, which included two kills from Seutter, pushed the Corsairs ahead 11-9. It was a lead the squad would not let go of as UMass went on a 9-0 run and closed out the set with a kill from Pogorelec and a pair of attacking errors for the set victory.
Third set once again was a tight battle after UMass opened a solid 7-1 lead. The Brewers closed the margin to 13-7 but could not shrink the gap further as the Corsairs continued to capitalize on scoring runs and Brewers errors to take the third frame and the set victory.
Seutter paced the action for the Corsairs with a match-high 11 kills and no errors on 15 total attacks for a .733 hitting percentage. She also posted three block assists and a dig. Wade added nine kills with a block assist and seven digs, while Kristjansdottir had seven kills and no errors on 10 total attacks for a .700 hitting percentage. Pogorelec posted a squad-best 14 digs, while Peters had 18 assists. As a team, the Corsairs recorded 12 block assists to Vassar's one block solo.
UMass Dartmouth returns to the court on Friday, September 6 when it travels to Emerson College for a 5pm tilt against the Lions. The Corsairs will then travel to Babson the next day, taking on the host Beavers at 11am, followed by a 2pm match up against Franklin & Marshall.
