PLYMOUTH, N.H. – Graduate student
Nora Ryan (Groton, Conn.) posted 13 kills, but second-seeded University of Massachusetts Dartmouth upset top-seeded Plymouth State University, 3-0, to win its second straight Little East Conference (LEC) Women's Volleyball Tournament title at Foley Gymnasium on Saturday afternoon.
UMass Dartmouth improves to 23-6 and earns the LEC's automatic berth to the NCAA Tournament for the second straight year. Plymouth State's season likely comes to an end with a 25-4 record. The Panthers will hope for a potential at-large bid when the tournament field is revealed during the NCAA Selection Show, set to air at NCAA.com on Monday (Nov. 18) at 1:00 p.m.
Plymouth State held a 19-16 lead in the opening set, but the Corsairs ripped off six straight points to pull ahead before holding on for a 25-21 win. UMass Dartmouth snagged an early five-point advantage in set two and the Corsairs would stay in front the rest of the way to take set two, 25-16.
The thrilling third set featured back-and-forth action, as junior
Abigail Bassingthwaite (Plymouth, N.H.) provided a spark with three kills during a 5-0 spurt to give PSU a 12-8 lead. UMD would rally back, eventually earning championship-point at 24-23. PSU fought off four straight match-points, but with the score deadlocked at 27-27, an error and Corsairs' kill closed out the match.
Plymouth State was playing in the title match for a program-record third straight year.
The Basics:
- Plymouth State 0, UMass Dartmouth 3
- Plymouth State (25-4)
- UMass Dartmouth (23-6)
How it Happened:
- Sophomore Emma Hampton (Durham, N.H.) found the floor to spark a 6-0 run as the Panthers took a 10-5 lead in the opener. UMass Dartmouth slowly chipped away, cutting the deficit to one, 17-16, but Hampton answered again, and a Corsairs' error gave PSU a 19-16 advantage. UMass Dartmouth rallied, though, running off the next six points to take the lead, before closing out the set, 25-21.
- Senior Lilli Stogner (Weare, N.H.) notched a kill to open set two, but UMD scored the next three points, and the visitors would stay in front the rest of the way. Kills from Stogner, Hampton and graduate student Aynslee King (Anacortes, Wash.) pulled the hosts to within 10-8, but UMD recovered with a 5-1 spurt. The Corsairs continued to extend the lead, going up as many as ten, 23-13, before capping the 25-16 win with a kill.
- Trailing 8-7, Bassingthwaite ignited the home team with three kills in a five-point run as the Panthers led 12-8. UMass Dartmouth would rally to tie the score at 14-14 and things would stay tight. Three straight points gave the visitors a 20-17 lead and UMD remained in front, 23-20, until Stogner and Ryan blasted back-to-back kills, and an error tied things at 23-23. PSU erased championship-point four straight times, but the Corsairs were able to eke out the 29-27 win.
By the Numbers:
- Ryan paced the offense with 13 kills. She ends her career with 1,022 winners, the seventh-most in program history.
- Bassingthwaite was a spark with six kills (.333 attack percentage) in just two sets of action, adding a pair of blocks to her stat line.
- Stogner finished with six kills and a career-best 24 digs.
- Senior Makayla Marucci (Newton, Mass.) recorded 26 digs, giving her 1,491 for her career, a mark good enough for fourth all-time. She finishes her career as one of just three players to average more than four digs per set (4.10).
- Emerson recorded 23 assists and nine digs, while senior Riley McDonough (Gilford, N.H.) added 17 assists and six digs.
- Senior Imalay Rodriguez Martinez (Juncos, Puerto Rico) chipped in ten digs.
- PSU leads the all-time series 28-5, but UMass Dartmouth has won three of the last four meetings, including each of the last two LEC Tournament finals.
- The previous three meetings required five sets to determine a winner.
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