PHOTO CREDIT: Brian Berthiaume '24
STANDISH, Maine – UMass.-Boston (3-3) defeated Saint Joseph's College (2-4) in three hard fought sets (32-30, 25-21, 26-24) in a non-conference women's volleyball match on Mike McDevitt Court at the Harold Alfond Center on Tuesday evening.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
The unfamiliar foes battled through 31 tie scores and 18 lead changes during an action packed matchup that featured one of the longest first sets in recent memory. With the Monks holding a 24-21 lead, the Beacons took advantage of three consecutive SJC errors to tie the opening frame before a see-saw fracas ensued and the visitors escaped with a 32-30 set triumph.
UMass.-Boston held at least a share of the lead for the better part of the second set and mounted a late 8-1 surge to pick up a 25-21 win and 2-0 match lead.
The Beacons fought through 14 ties and six lead changes in the final set before securing a 24-20 cushion on a Paige Coulson (Marriottsville, Md.) kill. The Monks responded with four unanswered points before Lauren Westlund (Phoenix, Ariz.) and Coulson delivered kills to close out the set and the match.
TEAM STATS:
Saint Joseph's held the lead in kills (39-36), attack percentage (.174 / .151), and assists while UMass.-Boston posted advantages in aces (7-4) and digs (68-65) in the evenly matched contest.
LEADERS – SAINT JOSEPH'S:
- Junior Maggie Sylvester (Barrington, N.H.) led the Monks with 10 kills and posted a .286 attack percentage
- Sophomore Victoria Briones (El Paso, Texas) delivered nine kills, two aces, and 15 digs
- Sophomore Nadia Sixto (Chattanooga, Tenn.) added six kills, three digs, and three total blocks
- Junior Hanna Webster (Alvin, Texas) notched a stellar .412 attack rate with seven kills and no errors in 17 attempts
- Freshman Larisa Comolli (Nashua, N.H.) chipped in with five kills and three total blocks
- Senior Abby Jerome (Barrington, N.H.) notched 25 digs with four assists
- Senior Kailyn Chamberlin (Milford, N.H.) and freshman Tamya Johnson (Boston, Mass.) produced 13 assists and seven digs apiece
LEADERS – UMASS.-BOSTON:
- Westlund registered 10 kills and eight digs
- Coulson added eight kills, two aces, three total blocks, and five digs
- Grad student Taryn Broughal (Branford, Conn.) contributed seven kills and two block assists
- Sophomore Amelia Devlin (West Chester, Pa.) recorded four kills, 25 assists, nine digs, and two block assists
- Senior Ally Dean (Portland, Ore.) posted 26 digs and three assists
HISTORICALLY SPEAKING:
With the setback the Monks fall to 0-4 all-time versus UMass.-Boston, a team Saint Joseph's last faced on October 16th, 2009 in Boston.
NEXT!
Saint Joseph's will play at Husson University on Thursday in a non-conference match set to begin at 6:00 PM.
