PROVIDENCE, R.I. – Powered by a match-high 10 kills from junior outside hitter and captain
Allison Pate, the UMass Dartmouth women's volleyball team defeated Rhode Island College, 3-0 (25-17, 25-17, 25-20) in Little East Conference action on Wednesday evening. The Corsairs improve to 12-6 overall and are now 3-0 in conference play, while the Anchorwomen are now 7-9 and 0-3 in the Little East.
It was a tight battle to open the match until the 5-all deadlock as the visiting Corsairs laid down six straight points – including two kills from Pate – to open an 11-5 advantage. RIC closed the gap to three (14-11), but a 7-0 run boosted UMD to a 20-12 lead as the Corsairs took advantage of six errors by the Anchorwomen. The visitors kept pace with ensuing RIC points, but a final kill from Pate sealed the set win for UMass Dartmouth.
Second set action saw UMass Dartmouth open a 5-1 lead behind a kill from senior defensive specialist and captain
Emily Pogorelec. Another kill from Pate extended the lead and the Corsairs continued to capitalize off of errors by the home team to take an 8-2 advantage.
UMD utilized a 6-0 run to turn the margin to 13-5 and a pair of kills from rookie outside hitter
Ashley Serverius opened the lead to 15-8. Errors continued to plague the Anchorwomen as a kill from junior middle blocker
Vivian Neyman, coupled with an ace from junior setter
Skye Peters closed out the frame for the 2-0 lead.
In the final set, the Corsairs once again opened a solid 6-3 lead on a kill by sophomore opposite
Olivia Seutter, but RIC answered to later pull the margin to a 15-10 score on a kill from Andrayah Williams. UMD countered with kills from Seutter and rookie middle blocker
Aleek Kuot and later Neyman to go up 19-11.
Errors once again caught up with the home team three of the Corsairs final five points – coupled with kills from Pate and Kuot – helped conclude the match victory for the visitors.
UMass Dartmouth – winners of six straight matches – was paced by Pate, who had 10 kills to go along with an assist, two service aces and a match-best 18 digs. She also added a block solo and two block assists. Kuot posted eight kills with no errors on 18 swings (.444), adding a block assist, while Seutter had seven kills with two blocks assists. Junior opposite
Maddie Carter added six kills with an assist, a block solo and three block assists - notching the 100th of her career. Peters notched a match-high 16 assists, while Pogorelec posted two aces with 16 digs.
The Corsairs return to action on Saturday with a pair of matches at Tripp Gym. UMD welcomes LEC-rival WestConn at 12pm, followed by a non-conference tilt against the Simmons Sharks at 2pm.
