PLYMOUTH, N.H. – Sophomore
Emma Hampton (Durham, N.H.) slammed a career-high 16 kills and hit nearly .500 as Plymouth State University rolled past the University of Massachusetts Boston, 3-0 (25-13, 25-14, 27-25), in Little East Conference (LEC) women's volleyball action at Foley Gymnasium on Saturday afternoon.
Hampton had the full complement of attacks working right from the opening serve, using the block and finding the floor with an array of big hits, timely off-speed attacks and crafty cut shots. She registered a pair of kills over the first three points as the Panthers took control early. Hampton smashed eight kills in the opening set alone as PSU rolled to a 25-13 win. Set two featured more of the same, with Hampton and graduate student
Nora Ryan (Groton, Conn.) pacing the PSU offense to a crisp 25-14 victory. Plymouth State looked well on its way to the sweep with a six-point lead late in the third set, but the Beacons used a seven-point run to jump in front, 24-23. The Panthers held strong, though, fighting off a set point before wrapping up the sweep with consecutive kills from Hampton and Ryan to secure the 27-25 win.
Plymouth State improves to 12-1 (1-0 LEC), while the Beacons dip to 8-6 (0-1 LEC).
The Basics:
- Plymouth State 3, UMass Boston 0
- Plymouth State (12-1, 1-0 LEC)
- UMass Boston (8-6, 0-1 LEC)
How it Happened:
- Plymouth State was clicking on all cylinders in the opening set. The Panthers won three lengthy rallies with Hampton registering two winners and senior Lindsey Sanderson (Gilford, N.H.) adding a kill, to set an early tone. Hampton continued to pound away at the UMB defense as the lead grew to 15-8, forcing a Beacons' timeout. The break did little to slow Hampton or the Panthers' momentum as PSU's lead ballooned to double digits before a kill by senior Lilli Stogner (Weare, N.H.) closed out the 25-13 win.
- A block, ace, and back-to-back kills jumpstarted the Panthers and PSU maintained a four-point advantage in the start of set two. UMass Boston was able to cut the deficit to 12-10, but Hampton's kill sparked a five-point burst to make it 17-10 and force the visitors into a timeout. Once again, the Panthers stayed hot out of the break, outscoring UMB 8-4 the rest of the way to take a commanding 2-0 lead.
- The third set stayed tight in the early going. Trailing 9-8, a stretch of fantastic defense, highlighted by incredible digs from seniors Riley McDonough (Gilford, N.H.) and Makayla Marucci (Newton, Mass.), helped the Panthers start to pull away. Stogner notched another kill and a Beacons' error made it 20-14, causing the visitors to use their second timeout. The teams traded points until UMass Boston used a seven-point run to rally into the lead, 24-23. PSU fought off the set point and, with the score tied at 25-25, back-to-back kills from Hampton and Ryan closed out the 27-25 victory.
By the Numbers:
- Hampton's 16 kills easily surpassed her previous best of 11 in a five-set match against UMass Dartmouth in the regular season finale last fall. She hit .448 (16-3-29) for the match, adding six digs and five blocks to her stat line.
- Ryan posted seven kills and four blocks, with Stogner chipping in six kills and 15 digs.
- Graduate student Ryley McNeeley (Easton, Mass.) added five kills in eight attempts without an error.
- McDonough posted a double-double with 21 assists and 12 digs, while Marucci matched a game-high with 22 digs.
- Plymouth State finished with eight team blocks and hit .252 for the match while limiting the Beacons to a .098 attack percentage.
- PSU was fantastic in the receive game, posting outstanding sideout percentages of 76% and 80% in sets one and two, before a respectable 56% in the final set.
- With the win, PSU now holds a 17-16 lead in the all-time series. The Panthers have won each of the last four meetings.
Up Next:
- Plymouth State welcomes Rivier University to Foley Gymnasium on Wednesday (Oct. 2) for a non-conference clash with the Raiders. First serve is set for 5:00 p.m.
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