NORTHAMPTON, Mass. – Powered by a match-best 10 kills from sophomore opposite
Olivia Seutter, the UMass Dartmouth volleyball team defeated Bowdoin College, 3-0 (25-20, 25-22, 27-25) in non-conference action at Scott Gym on the campus of Smith College. The Corsairs move to 6-3 on the season, while the Polar Bears are now 3-3 overall.
The Corsairs found themselves down in the opening set, trailing 6-3 early following a kill from Alison Smith. Bowdoin continued to press, but UMass Dartmouth began to battle back as a service ace from rookie defensive specialist
Tiffany London tied it at 11-all.
The momentum continued to shift back-and-forth until a kill from rookie opposite
Juliyana Hristova, coupled with an ace from senior setter and captain
Sabrina Bordone, saw the Corsairs take a lead that ended in a 5-0 run. It was a lead the Corsairs held onto for the remainder as a pair of kills from rookie outside hitter
Ashley Serverius helped UMD claim the 25-20 opening set victory.
Second set action opened with the favor on the Corsairs side – building up a 6-2 lead behind a pair of kills from junior opposite
Maddie Carter, along with single strikes from junior outside hitter
Allison Pate and sophomore opposite
Olivia Seutter.
Taking advantage of numerous errors by the Polar Bears, UMass Dartmouth saw Seutter and Carter each lay down another kill, while a strike from rookie middle blocker
Aleek Kuot helped push the margin to 18-13 for UMD. Despite back-to-back kills from Bowdoin's Skye LaMendola, the Corsairs continued to hold the advantage by a 21-17 margin. The Polar Bears made a quick surge, but a kill from Serverius along with several Bowdoin errors closed out the set, 25-22 in UMD's favor.
Third set action saw the Polar Bears battle back, grabbing an early 6-1 lead behind a pair of kills and three straight service aces from LaMendola – forcing a Corsairs timeout. UMD recorded three straight out of the pause, but continued to be plagued by errors as Bowdoin held a 10-5 lead on a kill from Zoe Ryu.
The Corsairs turned it around soon after, rattling off six straight points to take a 14-12 lead, which included two aces by junior setter
Skye Peters. The two squads continued to keep it close, neither holding more than a two-point margin until the Polar Bears tied it up at 23-all on an ace from Anna Yeh – forcing another UMD timeout. A return to action saw the Corsairs on the brink, but Bowdoin tied it once more (25-25). UMass Dartmouth finally closed it down as Seutter posted a kill and an ace from senior defensive specialist and captain
Emily Pogorelec sealed the match victory.
Seutter finished with a match-high 10 kills, committing just two errors on 20 attempts for a .400 hitting percentage. She added a pair of block assists and four digs. Carter posted six digs with no errors on 10 attempts for a .600 percentage, recording a block solo and two block assists, while Serverius, Kuot and Pate all posted five kills in the match. Peters finished with 18 assists and a match-high three aces, while London also posted a match-best three aces.
The Corsairs return to the court in Northampton tomorrow, batting the host Bears at 12pm in Ainsworth Gym. UMass Dartmouth will then face Colby College in Scott Gym at 2pm, marking an NCAA Tournament First Round rematch from 2024.
