UMass Dartmouth Spoils Volleyball’s Senior Day in Five

BOSTON – Playing in its second straight five-set match in as many outings, Suffolk volleyball came out on the wrong side as UMass Dartmouth took down the Rams, 3-2, Thursday night inside Regan Gymnasium. The non-conference decision came by set scores, 17-25, 26-24, 25-23, 26-28 and 15-8. 

THE BASICS
SCORE: Suffolk 2, UMass Dartmouth 3
RECORD Suffolk (12-14) | UMass Dartmouth (11-16) 

HOW IT HAPPENED
Suffolk gained an early 1-0 edge in the match, but fell behind 2-1 after the Corsairs took frames two and three, respectively. The Rams forced the fifth frame thanks to a rally come-from-behind fourth set, but could not complete the comeback. 

SET ONE RECAP (25-17, SUFFOLK)

• Suffolk jumped ahead 7-2 thanks, with the run including two kills from Talia Lombardo, forcing the Corsairs to take a timeout early.
• UMass crept back and pulled within one, 16-15, but Suffolk did not let the visitors come any closer.
• The Rams rebuilt a 21-17 edge before Dartmouth used its second timeout of the set.
• Out of the break, behind the serving of senior Jess Rexrode, the Rams rattled off four consecutive points to seal the set. 

SET TWO RECAP (26-24, UMASS DARTMOUTH)

• The Rams had to play catchup for the majority of the frame as they fell behind in a 3-0.
• After tying the stanza at 3-all, the Corsairs remained steadily in front, leading 8-6.
• The seniors powered the blue-and-gold back with Liz Kerek powering home a kill, before a kill from Rexrode gave the Rams a 9-8 lead.
• Dartmouth hung around and leveled the playing field twice, at 12 and 13, respectively.
• The Rams rallied with back-to-back points to gain an edge before UMass called timeout.
• Out of the break the blue and gold put together a pair of points to put a 17-13 distance between the Rams and Corsairs.
• UMass was not down for the count as the visitors used a 6-0 stretch to climb back and tie the set at 18-all.
• From there, the score locked up six times and the lead was exchanged on five occasions before Dartmouth regained the lead for good, 25-24, with a kill by Nicole Silverman.
• Silverman sealed the set for the Corsairs with her eighth kill of the night. 

SET THREE RECAP (25-23, UMass Dartmouth)

• After taking a 3-1 early edge, the tides turned and Suffolk found itself trailing, 15-7 at the midway point.
• Bonny Ducharme took a timeout to talk things over and the Rams came out of the break on a 3-1 spurt to pull within six, 16-10.
• Suffolk continued its comeback with four unanswered points to make it a three-point set, 21-18.
• The Rams stayed alive with match point in the Corsairs' favor, 24-20, with three unanswered points to pull within one, 24-23.
• After a back-and-forth rally, UMass locked up the frame with Silverman's 12th kill of the evening. 

SET FOUR RECAP (28-26, SUFFOLK)

• Suffolk fell in a 6-0 hole to open the fourth frame.
• The Rams chipped away at the deficit and trimmed it in half as Hannah Fabiano served back-to-back aces.
• Dartmouth maintained its distance and went ahead 13-7.
• The blue-and-gold outscored the Corsiars, 7-2 to make it a one-point set, 15-14, to force a UMass timeout.
• Out of the break, Dartmouth put the first point on the board, but Suffolk followed with four consecutive points to tie the set, 17-all.
• After four tied scores, Dakhensey Marcellus snuck a serve over the net to give the Rams their first advantage of the frame, 22-21.
• The tightly contested contest ensued with five even scores and the lead flip flopping four times.
• Suffolk grabbed the final advantage on an attack error by Silverman and forced the final set thanks to a block by Kayla Barbera and Sarah Mullahy. 

SET FIVE RECAP (15-8, UMASS DARMOUTH)

• The first five points of the frame belonged to UMass and once again Suffolk had to play catch.
• The Rams cut the deficit in half, 6-3, but found themselves in a 9-3 hole.
• Suffolk used a timeout to gain composure and did so, putting together a 5-2 stretch to climb within three, 11-8.
• Dartmouth sealed the set and match with four straight points. 

STATISTICALLY SPEAKING

• Fabiano and Lombardo each posted double-double efforts for the Rams. Lombardo led the way with 15 kills, 12 digs, one block, one assist and one ace. Fabiano, meanwhile, had 14 kills, 14 digs, a pair of aces and one assist.
• Kerek set up the offense with 35 assists to go along with nine digs, two blocks and two kills.
• Marcellus added 13 digs to the defensive unit. 

NOTEWORTHY

• Fabiano put together her seventh double-double of the season, while Lombardo contributed her third.

POST-MATCH PIC

UP NEXT
Suffolk concludes regular season play with a tri-match at the University of Saint Joseph Connecticut Saturday, Oct. 28. The Rams will first take on Simmons at 1 p.m. before capping off the regular season at 3 p.m. versus the Blue Jays.