DARTMOUTH, Mass. – Plymouth State University is the Little East Conference (LEC) women's volleyball regular season champion for the fourth time in five seasons after holding off the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth, 3-2, in the regular season finale at the Tripp Athletic Center on Saturday.
Plymouth State improves to 24-3 and goes a perfect 8-0 in LEC play to claim the regular season title and top seed for next week's LEC Tournament. The Corsairs close the regular season with a 21-6 mark (7-1 LEC) and will be the second seed for the tournament.
For the second straight year the two teams entered the finale battling for the top spot in the league and for the second straight time the match went the distance. Plymouth State came out composed to take the opener, 25-16, but the Corsairs eked out a 25-22 win in set two. PSU went up 2-1 with another impressive 25-16 win, but the hosts forced a deciding set with a narrow 25-23 victory.
Nursing a two-point edge, 8-6, in the fifth set, PSU pulled away with a 5-0 run thanks to three huge blocks. UMass Dartmouth would briefly extend the set, but seniors
Lindsey Sanderson (Gilford, N.H.) and
Lilli Stogner (Weare, N.H.) slammed back-to-back kills to secure the 15-7 win.
Graduate student
Nora Ryan (Groton, Conn.) finished with 15 kills to lead the Panthers, becoming the seventh player in program history to record 1,000 career kills.
The top-seeded Panthers will host the winner of fourth-seeded WestConn and fifth-seeded Eastern Connecticut in a semifinal match on Thursday (Nov. 14) at 5:00 p.m.
The Basics:
- Plymouth State 3, UMass Dartmouth 2
- Plymouth State (24-3, 8-0 LEC)
- UMass Dartmouth (21-6, 7-1 LEC)
How it Happened:
- The Corsairs jumped out to a 5-1 lead, but the Panthers quickly recovered as Stogner recorded a kill and an ace to tie the score at 5-5. Plymouth State started to gain some separation during a 7-0 spurt that gave the Panthers a 15-8 lead. PSU maintained the comfortable advantage the rest of the way and Sanderson wrapped up the 25-16 win with a kill.
- Back-to-back UMD errors gifted the Panthers an 8-4 lead early in set two, but the Corsairs battled back to go up 11-9 and force a PSU timeout. The hosts extended the lead to 14-10, but Plymouth State clawed back to pull even at 14-14 and the game remained tight the rest of the way. The score was deadlocked at 15-15, 16-16, 17-17, 19-19 and 20-20, until the hosts used a two-point spurt for a 22-20 lead. The teams traded points from there, as UMD grabbed the win, 25-22.
- Trailing 7-4, Ryan's kill sparked a five-point run for the Panthers and PSU wouldn't trail again. UMD pulled even at 9-9, but graduate student Aynslee King (Anacortes, Wash.) found the floor and senior Riley McDonough (Gilford, N.H.) served a pair of aces as part of another five-point spurt. The hosts pulled within 14-11, but PSU recovered to outscore the Corsairs 11-4 the rest of the way.
- UMass Dartmouth used a four-point surge to take an 18-13 lead in the fourth set and the Panthers were unable to recover. Stogner's kill cut the margin to 20-17, but UMD followed with three of the next four points to lead 23-18. Sanderson, Stogner and McDonough each recorded kills and freshman Danielle Emerson (Biddeford, Maine) followed with an ace to cut the deficit to one, 23-22, but UMass Dartmouth would hang on with two of the final three points for the 25-23 victory to set up the winner-takes-all fifth set.
- PSU played with a lead from the start, though the Corsairs stayed well within striking distance. Sophomore Emma Hampton (Durham, N.H.) ripped a kill for a 6-3 lead, but UMD answered with back-to-back points to pull within one. Hampton's kill and a McDonough ace gave PSU and 8-5 lead at the switch. UMD got one back, but Hampton and King teamed up for a huge block and PSU would score the next four points, including key double blocks from Sanderson and King, then Stogner and King on back-to-back points, as the lead grew to 13-6. The hosts got a kill to briefly slow the momentum, but Sanderson ripped a winner off the tape and Stogner used the UMD block for the match-winning kill.
By the Numbers:
- Ryan led the Panthers with 15 kills (.323 attack percentage), while graduate student Ryley McNeeley (Easton, Mass.) added 11 kills.
- Stogner posted ten kills and matched a career-high with 23 digs.
- Hampton added ten kills and nine digs, while King had a match-best five blocks.
- Emerson and McDonough combined for 44 assists, seven aces and 25 digs.
- Senior Makayla Marucci (Newton, Mass.) led all players with 30 digs.
- Plymouth State has controlled the all-time series, winning 28-of-32 meetings, though UMass Dartmouth beat the Panthers in five sets in both the regular season finale and LEC Tournament finals last fall.
Up Next:
- Top-seeded Plymouth State will host the winner of fourth-seeded WestConn and fifth-seeded Eastern Connecticut in a semifinal match at Foley Gymnasium on Thursday (Nov. 14) at 5:00 p.m.
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