CASTLETON, Vt. – It was a clean sweep Saturday for the UMass Dartmouth women's volleyball team, who posted 3-0 victories over both Vermont State University Castleton and Mass. Maritime Academy. The Corsairs posted a 25-20, 25-14, 25-20 win over the host Spartans, while earning a 25-9, 25-18, 25-13 over the Mariners in the final match of the day.
UMass Dartmouth improves to 18-6 on the season, boasting a 5-0 record in the Little East after the opening conference win against the Spartans.
In the opener against Vermont State Castleton, the Corsairs took advantage of a number of errors and kills from senior defensive specialist and captain
Emily Pogorelec, sophomore opposite
Olivia Seutter, rookie middle blocker
Aleek Kuot and junior outside hitter and captain
Allison Pate to open a solid 8-4 lead in the first set.
The Corsairs continued to hold a solid 15-8 lead following a kill from junior middle blocker
Vivian Neyman, but solid efforts by the Spartans saw the home team tie the match at 18-all on a kill by Jocelyn Ray. UMD utilized three kills from Pate to retake a 23-18 lead and strikes from Pate and Neyman helped seal the opening set win.
Second set action once again saw the Corsairs take advantage of a number of errors, opening a 22-13 lead. A kill from Kuot pushed the margin to 23-14 and Neyman – coupled with an attacking error on the home team – handed the Corsairs the 25-14 set victory.
In the third set, a kill from Seutter helped push the Corsairs out to a 15-13 lead and a strike by rookie opposite
Lauren Powers later helped make it a four-point (19-15) advantage. The Spartans got as close as 19-17, but UMass Dartmouth utilized two kills from Seutter, along with several VTSU Castleton errors to seal the match victory.
Pate led the match with nine kills, adding an assist, a service ace, two block assists and eight digs, while Seutter posted seven kills with a block assist and a dig. Kuot had eight kills with a service ace, a block assist and a dig, while Pogorelec has a match-high 15 digs with three assists and two kills. Junior setter
Skye Peters added 14 assists, as did senior setter and captain
Sabrina Bordone.
In the second match against the Buccaneers, the Corsairs cruised to a 25-9 opening set victory. In the second frame, UMD held a 12-8 lead following a Powers kill, coupling that with an ace from Peters for the five-point differential (13-8). UMass Dartmouth went on a 5-0 run to build up a 19-11 lead and later got an ace from rookie middle blocker
Lea Selfridge to help close out the middle set win.
Third set action saw the Corsairs dominate once more as three straight kills from Seutter helped UMass Dartmouth to a 20-12 lead. The Buccaneers took advantage of a UMD error, but five straight points – which included kills from Seutter and Pate with a Bordone ace – concluded the match.
Seutter had an outstanding effort, recording a match-best 13 kills with no errors on 17 swings for a .765 hitting percentage. She added a block assist and four digs. Pate posted eight kills with an assist, two aces and nine digs, while junior opposite
Maddie Carter had seven kills with two errors and 12 swings. Peters notched a match-high 23 assists, while Pogorelec once again had a match-best 11 digs.
UMass Dartmouth returns to action on Wednesday when it hosts UMass Boston at the Tripp Athletic Center in a pivotal LEC match. Action kicks off at 7pm.
