BOSTON, Mass. – The UMass Dartmouth volleyball team shouldered a tough Little East loss on Wednesday night, falling 3-1 (17-25, 25-22, 22-25, 18-25) at UMass Boston at the Clark Athletic Center. The Corsairs move to 12-7 overall and 5-1 in the conference play, while the Beacons are now 14-7 and a perfect 5-0 in the LEC.
 
The Corsairs trailed by a 9-1 margin to open the first set of action, but battled back with a 7-1 run later in the frame – aided by kills from rookie outside hitter Norah Schweitzer and senior middle blocker Maddie Carter – to make it a 22-15 lead in favor of the homestanding Beacons. UMass Dartmouth continued to fight, going on another quick run to make it a 23-17 score but UMB laid down a pair of kills to take the set victory.
 
In the second set of action, the Corsairs once again trailed early, but a 6-0 rally – which included three kills from Schweitzer – saw UMass Dartmouth take an 8-6 lead. Following a timeout, the Corsairs continued to add to their total with three straight points for an 11-6 lead. Back-to-back kills from senior captain and outside hitter Allison Pate pushed the margin to 14-7 later.
 
Despite the momentum, the Corsairs could not hold off the Beacons as they utilized a 5-0 run of their own to pull the set score to two (14-12) forcing a UMD timeout. Out of the short break, UMass Boston grabbed another point but the Corsairs responded with three straight points, including kills from senior setter and captain Skye Peters and Pate for a 17-13 score.
 
It remained close as back-to-back points by the Beacons narrowed the gap to a 19-18 lead for the Corsairs, but UMB drove back in with three straight points to pull the score to 24-22, but an attacking error on the home team handed the Corsairs the set win to tie the match at 1-all.
 
The Beacons grabbed the 2-1 lead with a third set victory despite an 8-0 run at the start from the Corsairs which saw they own a 9-7 advantage. The teams continued to keep it close, neither leading by more than two until a four-point differential (22-18) for the home team. UMass Dartmouth battled back, closing the gap to 23-22 on a home team error, but consecutive kills from Mya Perron and Nevaeh Yancey closed out the set win by a 25-22 score.
 
 Fourth set action saw another tight battle with both teams matching point-for-point until a kill from Carter gave the visitors an 8-7 lead. The Beacons quickly countered and the see-saw battle continued as a kill from UMB's Yancey tied the match for the fourth time early. The Beacons continued to capitalize off Corsair mistakes, regaining a 19-17 lead. UMass Boston took advantage of errors down the stretch, claiming the match win.
 
Junior opposite Olivia Seutter paced the effort in kills, recording 10 overall with a service ace, a block assist and five digs. Pate registered seven kills with two assists and an ace with 18 digs, while rookie defensive specialist Brooke Harrington had 20 digs with three assists and a kill. Carter laid down six kills and recorded a block solo and a block assist to record her 200th career block as a Corsair. Seutter added 25 assists in the match with an ace, three kills and seven digs.
 
UMass Dartmouth returns to action on Saturday, traveling to Eastern Connecticut State for a 1pm match against the Warriors in Little East action.