DARTMOUTH, Mass. – The University of Massachusetts Dartmouth women's volleyball team swept their competition in dramatic fasion during Saturday's home tri-match against the University of Southern Maine (25-13, 25-9, 25-15) and Trinity College (Conn.) (25-12, 28-26, 25-23, 25-20, 15-13) from the Tripp Athletic Center. The Corsairs improved to a 10-6 overall record and captured their first Little East Conference (LEC) win of the season with a 3-0 victory over Southern Maine to start league play 1-0.
Sophomore opposite
Olivia Seutter and junior outside hitter and captain
Allison Pate tallied two kills apiece in a 7-2 opening run to kick off the first set against the Huskies. First year middle blocker
Aleek Kuot posted back-to-back block assist for the Corsairs to make it a 9-3 match. Seutter strung four straight kills together enroute to a 25-13 first set win for UMass Dartmouth. The home squad once again jumped out to a commanding 10-1 lead to start the second set with all 10 points coming from Corsair kills including five from Seutter.
Junior opposite
Maddie Carter added her fifth kill of the afternoon to extend UMass Dartmouth's advantage to 21-7 in the second. Junior middle blocker
Vivian Neyman notched a kill while Pate recorded a pair of kills to seal the Corsairs second set victory by a score of 25-9.
In the third set, Southern Maine kept the score close early as Mariah Eaton finished a kill to narrow UMass Dartmouth's lead down to 7-6. The Corsair generated a 7-2 run highlighted by a service ace from junior setter
Skye Peters to pull away with a 14-8 edge. The Huskies got an ace from Chloe Whittaker to chip away at the lead, but a 7-0 run culminated in a kill from rookie outside hitter
Milowa Frias to give UMass Dartmouth the victory.
Seutter recorded a match-high 19 kills with just two errors on 27 attempts for an outstanding .630 hitting percentage. Pate added 14 kills with three errors on 24 swings for a .458 percentage, adding two block assists and nine digs, while Carter posted eight kills with one error on 11 swings for a sparkling .630 percentage. She also had two block solos. Peters posted 30 assists, while senior captain and defensive specialist
Emily Pogorelec added 10 digs.
It was a wild match against the Bantams as Trinity opened with a solid 25-12 set win. The Corsairs bounced back, matching the visitors point for point until back-to-back errors by the Bantams gave UMD the 28-26 win. Trinity took a 2-1 advantage, putting the Corsairs against the wall, but the home team fought back.
The Corsairs owned a 21-18 lead as Trinity fell victim to another attacking error. Trinity pulled the margin to 21-20, but back-to-back kills from Seutter, coupled with two straight from Pate saw the Corsairs force a fifth set with the 25-20 win.
In the fifth set, the visitors owned an 8-7 lead at the split, but a kill from Seutter tied things at 10-all heading into the home stretch. Three straight kills from Seutter led to a 14-12 lead for the home team and a final kill from Pate sealed the hard-fought match win.
Seutter once again led the way with a match-high 20 kills, adding a block assist and three digs. Pate had 14 kills with an ace, a block assists and 24 digs, while Kuot posted 12 kills with a block solo and a block assist. Pogorelec finished with 31 digs, while Peters had 36 assists and 15 digs with a block assist.
The Corsairs return to the court on Friday, October 3 when they travel to Keene State for a 6pm tilt against the Owls.
