Volleyball Blanks UMass Boston

BOSTON – Suffolk proved to be the better volleyball team on Boston's Red Line as the Rams swept the Beacons of UMass Boston Tuesday night at the Clark Athletic Center. 

THE BASICS
SCORE: Suffolk 3 | UMass Boston 0
RECORDS: Suffolk (4-5) | UMass Boston (3-5) 

SET ONE RECAP (25-20, SUFFOLK)

• Suffolk prevailed in the first frame that featured 10 locked scores and five lead exchanges. 
• Neither team led by more than three points for the entire match with the Beacons taking the first three-point advantage, 8-5. 
• The Rams rallied back and evened the field at 8-all. 
• See-saw action continued as UMass Boston would go up by two points and the Rams responded to even the score. 
• Down 18-16, Suffolk sprang into action and outscored the Beacons 4-2 to flip the script in its favor, 22-20. That stretch featured kills from McKenna Keowen, Jasmine James and Alina Nowakowski with one ace by Harmony Johnson.
• Trailing for the first time, UMB used its first timeout of the day, but that did not stop Suffolk's surge as James put away her third kill of the night out of the huddle to extend the edge to three, which forced the Beacons to talk things over again. 
• The Rams continued their rally out of the break once again. Keowen logged her second kill of the night and an attack error by the hosts allowed the blue-and-gold to take the stanza.  

SET TWO RECAP (25-13, SUFFOLK)

• Suffolk's early 7-3 lead doubled into a 14-7 gap
• The Beacons battled back and remained within striking distance, 15-0. 
• Nowakowski jump started an 8-0 Rams run, that featured three aces from Morgan Kelsey, and pushed the blue-and-gold's cushion to 23-10. 
• UMass Boston halted Suffolk's scoring and stayed alive with three straight points of their own. 
• That wouldn't be enough though as the Rams used aa Beacons attack error followed by a Jayla Martinez kill to seal the second set.   

SET THREE RECAP (25-21, SUFFOLK)

• Similar to the first set, the third was a back-and-forth frame all the way down to the wire. 
• Suffolk jumped ahead early, 4-2. 
• The scored tied three times before UMass Boston took its own two-point lead, 9-7. 
• That hole grew to as many as four, 12-8. 
• Keowen's kill ignited a 4-1 stretch that was capped off by a kill from James that put Suffolk ahead, 14-13. 
• The Rams and Beacons would swap the lead position twice more with Suffolk taking the advantage for the last time at 18-17 courtesy of a UMB attack error. 
• Martinez served in ace in the next position, which forced the host to use a timeout. 
• The teams went point-for-point after the huddles, but Suffolk clung to the lead. 
• Julia Leavey stepped up down the stretch. The freshman produced three kills to help Suffolk lock up the set and match.   

STATISTICALLY SPEAKING

• James was responsible for 12 of Suffolk's 32 kills. The rookie hit .320 to balance the team's .244 attack percentage. 
• Kelsey was an all-around contributor with a match-high 21 digs, five aces and two assists. 
• Keowen registered 12 digs, four kills, three aces and one helper. 
• Johnson tallied 19 assists, five digs, and one ace. 
• Martinez added seven assists, four digs, one ace and one kill. 
• Leavey recorded seven kills and one dig.   

NOTEWORTHY

• Suffolk met UMass Boston for the first time since 2016. 
• The Rams bested the Beacons for the first time since 2005 and third time overall. 
• Suffolk snapped a five-match skid versus UMB to move to 3-7 in the all-time series. 
• The blue-and-gold took down UMass Boston on the Beacons' home court for the first time. Now, Suffolk is 1-4 when playing at UMB. 
• With tonight's decision, eight matches have been decided in straight set fashion between Suffolk and UMass. The Rams are 2-7 in sweeps against the Beacons. 
• James notched double-digit kills for the first time in her collegiate career.  

POST-MATCH PIC
  

COMING UP
Suffolk opens a three-match homestand Thursday, Sept. 16 when it entertains Lasell at Larry E. and Michael S. Smith Court at 7:00 p.m.