Wellesley Volleyball Upended by UMass-Boston in NCAA Tournament

WELLESLEY, Mass. -- The Wellesley College volleyball team saw its 2013 season come to an end with a 3-0 loss to the University of Massachusetts Boston in the first round of the NCAA Division III Tournament. The Beacons came out on top using set scores of 26-24, 25-17, and 25-16.

UMass Boston improves to 22-15 with the win and will take on Roger Williams in the second round of the tournament. The Beacons have won two out of the last three NCAA New England Regional titles. Wellesley, meanwhile, ends its campaign with a 28-7 overall record.

The Beacons corralled Wellesley's hitting, holding the Blue to just a .054 clip, which marked the lowest hitting percentage for the team all season. Wellesley made 25 total hitting errors in the match, and were out-blocked 11-3.

The Blue had the advantage in the first set, opening up a 13-7 lead on a Brooke Fieldman kill. UMB battled back to within three, but Wellesley forged ahead and held a 21-13 advantage after a kill from Sydney Carfagno. Again, the Beacons battled back, making it 23-19 on a Wellesley attack error. The Blue then used an UMB attack error to take over serve for match point at 24-20, but the Beacons recorded the final six points of the match, three coming on Wellesley errors to win the tight 26-24 set.

The Beacons momentum carried into the second set, as they held the Blue to a .067 hitting percentage. The set stayed close through the early goings, with neither team leading by more than two points. UMB began to take control midway through, however, grabbing a 13-8 lead on a Wellesley attack error. The Beacons slowly increased their advantage, until another Blue error make it 22-13 UMB. After a Wellesley timeout, the Blue crawled back to make it 24-17, but a Patsy Boland kill ended the set 25-17 in favor of UMB.

The third set started off close, but again Wellesley was hampered by hitting woes, managing just a 000 effort. UMass Boston has an early 9-6 lead, punctuated by a Kirsten Morrison kill, but Wellesley battled back to make it 11-11 on a block from Fieldman and Caitlin Laughlin. After the tie, the Beacons took over and never looked back, going on a 14-5 run to close the set, and give them the 3-0 match sweep.

UMass-Boston used a balanced offense throughout the match, led by Corrine Porter and Julia Murphy who each picked up nine kills. Bri Sousa and Morrison added six kills each, while Boland recorded five. Elizabeth Glavan had a match-high 18 digs, while Porter added 17 and Pepper Baker picked up 10. Murphy finished with six total blocks in the match, while Meghan Pollock ran the offense with 31 total assists.

For Wellesley, Carfagno ended the match with 17 kills and eight digs, while Kellyn O'Brady recorded seven kills and eight digs. Traci Hamanaka led the Blue with 16 digs, while Hilary Ayers (17 assists) and Maddie Koh (10 assists) split the setting duties.