UMass Boston Tops Blue Volleyball, 3-0

BOSTON, Mass. – UMass Boston junior Julia Murphy (Canton, Mass.) registered a match-high 11 kills as the Beacons swept to a 3-0 (25-16, 25-20, 25-20) non-conference victory over Wellesley College volleyball on Friday evening at Clark Athletic Gym. UMass Boston improves to 4-9 with the victory, dropping the Blue to 7-8 on the season. 

Murphy was joined in double-figures by classmate Colleen Koen (Centerville, Mass.), as Koen added 10 kills for UMass Boston. Murphy and Koen both hit over .400 on the match, helping junior setter Pepper Baker (Tallahassee, Fla.) rack up a match-high 34 assists. In all, the Beacons hit .360 as a team, as first years Eileen Shi (San Francisco, Calif.) and Haley Diedrick (Canton, Mich.) added nine and eight kills, respectively. On defense, junior Elizabeth Glavan (Edina, Minn.) recorded a match-high 14 digs for the Beacons. 

Junior Brooke Fieldman (Greenwood Village, Colo.) and first year Yasmine Reece (New Rochelle, N.Y.) each put down six kills to lead the Blue, while sophomore Katie Yan (Cohoes, N.Y.) and first year Elise Griffin (Los Altos Hills, Calif.) each added five. First year setter Michelle Li (Scarsdale, N.Y.) also chipped in with three kills on four attempts, adding a team-high 24 assists. First year Samantha Hoang (Elk Grove, Calif.) had a team-high eight digs in the match, with Yan not far behind with six.

The Blue offense started slow in the first set, hitting just .083 and collecting only six kills. The Beacons took advantage, racing out to 10-3 lead en route to a 25-16 victory in the opener. The Blue briefly closed the early gap, rallying back to within a point, at 13-12. However, the Beacons reestablished their edge, scoring eight of the next nine points to take a 19-13 lead following a kill from Koen. Murphy then recorded three kills on the Beacons final six points to seal the first set win.

UMass Boston grabbed an early advantage, 7-2, in the second set before Wellesley countered to close the gap again, at 11-11. Little separated the two sides until the Beacons broke a 16-all tie and jumped to an 18-16 lead following back-to-back kills from Shi. Wellesley again closed the gap to one, at both 20-19 and 21-20, but the final four points of the set when to the hosts, as UMass Boston took a 25-20 victory.

The Beacons closed out the match with another 25-20 win in the third and final set. With the teams going back and forth to open the set, the Beacons broke an 11-11 tie with four consecutive points, including a kill and a pair of aces from Glavan. UMass Boston never trailed for the remainder of the set, taking the 3-0 sweep. 

The Blue are idle this weekend but will return to New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) action at MIT next Tuesday, October 6, at 7:00 PM. The Beacons will travel to Babson College tomorrow, Saturday, October 3, for a 1:00 PM match.