DARTMOUTH, Mass. – Powered by a 14-kill performance from senior outside hitter
Kate Wade, the UMass Dartmouth women's volleyball team defeated Nichols College, 3-0 (25-10, 25-19, 25-11) in non-conference action on Monday evening. With the victory, the Corsairs move to 7-3, while the Bison are now 1-3 on the season.
The Corsairs came out firing in the opening set, going on a 9-0 run to start things off with three kills coming from Wade, while rookie right side
Olivia Seutter had two. UMass Dartmouth continued to dominate, stretching the lead to 18-4 as senior middle blocker
Monika Kristjansdottir dished out three kills.
Nichols pulled the score to 23-10, capitalizing on a Corsair error, but UMassD got kills from Wade and senior opposite
Chelsea Sanker to close out the set victory.
Second set saw the Corsairs once again jump out to a solid lead, going up 6-1, but a kill from senior outside hitter Luna Colozzo eventually pulled Nichols back to within five (10-5). Leading 13-7, the Corsairs went on a 5-0 run, including back-to-back aces from Kristjansdottir before the Bison battled back.
The visitors had a 6-0 run of their own backed by a pair of kills from junior right side Kya Burdier to close the gap to 18-13. With the score 23-19 UMassD after an ace from Bison's libero Liz Diorio, the Corsairs closed out the set on an error and a kill from Wade.
In the final set of action, the Corsairs once again jumped out to a strong lead, opening up an 11-3 advantage following back-to-back Bison errors. Nichols pulled to within 17-8 on a strike from junior outside hitter Mairead Frost, but a kill from sophomore outside hitter
Allison Pate, coupled with a
Skye Peters service ace, pushed the Corsairs to a 19-8 margin.
UMass Dartmouth went on a 5-1 run to end the match, paced by a pair of kills from Wade, securing their seventh win of the season.
Wade who had just three errors on 26 swings for a .423 hitting percentage, added two service aces and three digs. Seutter recorded eight kills, notching two block assists with a dig, while Kristjansdottir had six kills and no errors on 10 swings for a .600 percentage. She also added two aces, two block assists and three digs. Junior libero
Emily Pogorelec notched 14 digs with an ace, while Peters had 10 digs and 21 assists with a service ace.
For Nichols, Colozzo had six kills with two block assists and 10 digs. Burdier added five kills, as junior setter Hailey Wright had eight assists and seven digs to go along with an ace.
UMass Dartmouth returns to action on Thursday, welcoming Simmons to the Tripp Athletic Center at 7pm.
