DARTMOUTH, Mass. - Powered by a match-high 13 kills from sophomore opposite
Olivia Seutter, the UMass Dartmouth volleyball team defeated Worcester State, 3-0 (25-12, 25-15, 25-22) in non-conference action on Tuesday evening. The Corsairs move to 4-0 on the season, while the Lancers are now 0-5.
Seutter added an assist, two block assists and two digs for UMD, which also saw junior outside hitter and captain
Allison Pate record nine kills with 11 digs, a service ace and a block assist. Junior middle blocker
Vivian Neyman added three service aces, a match-best four block assists and four digs, while senior defensive specialist and captain
Emily Pogorelec had a match-high 15 digs with three assists and a service ace. Junior setter
Skye Peters posted 11 assists and contributed a match-best four service aces.
The Corsairs got off to a hot start in the opening set, jumping out to a 16-6 lead behind kills from rookie outside hitter
Ashley Serverius and an ace from Pogorelec. The Lancers responded, taking advantage of a pair of errors, but a 5-0 run with kills from Seutter and Serverius pushed the margin to 21-8. Worcester State saw Cassandra Millea post a kill and take advantage of a pair of Corsairs errors, but the home team sealed the opening set victory on a strike from Seutter.
Second set action opened in close fashion, but a 3-0 run fueled by multiple errors and a Pate ace, pushed the Corsairs ahead 12-7. Worcester State continued to press with a kill from Reece Connors, but UMD took advantage of a 5-0 for a 19-10 margin. The Lancers grabbed points back on several errors by the home team, but a kill from Pate, followed by an ace from Peters closed down the set for a 2-0 lead in UMass Dartmouth's favor.
The visitors came barrelling back in the third set, posting a 6-3 lead behind errors and a Katherine Crateau ace. The Corsairs answered, tying the match at 6-all behind a pair of kills from Pate, but the Lancers went on to open a 12-7 lead soon after. Trailing by a 16-8 margin later in the frame, the Corsairs went on a roll with a 8-0 run to tie the match at 16-16 - which included two Seutter kills and a pair of aces from Peters. WSU once again battled back, taking the 20-17 lead on a kill from Connors, but the home team continued to fight. Another five-point swing - which saw Neyman with two aces - pushed the Corsairs back into the lead with a 22-20 score.
Worcester State tied the match at 22-all, but the Corsairs saw rookie middle blocker
Aleek Kuot lay down a kill, while taking advantage of back-to-back attacking errors by the Lancers to seal the match victory.
UMass Dartmouth is back in action on Friday, September 5 when it travels to Johns Hopkins University for invitational action. The Corsairs face Hardin-Simmons at 4pm and Colby-Sawyer at 6pm on Friday, followed by a 10am match against the host Blue Jays on Saturday.
