Junior co-captain Laurel Smith recorded a game high 12 kills as the UMass women’s volleyball team quickly dispatched Simmons College in a 3-0 victory. The win by the Beacons made it four in a row and seven out of their last eight games. UMass improved its record to 8-12 overall

In the first set, Smith broke an early 2-2 tie with a hard kill that went in between two Simmons players. That kill led to nine consecutive Beacons points. Mistakes by Simmons College forced Shark coach Janet Chin to take a timeout.

Sharp communication on the part of the Beacons paved the way for 14-4 run, which included an ace and two changeup kills by Katelyn McDonough. Confidence could be seen in every Beacon player on the court. Even when senior Gina Torres made a mistake, she took charge and came back to score the next point in the game. Smith finished off the set with another kill that was set up beautifully by senior Masuka Clary.

Simmons took a brief 2-1 lead in the second set. It was the only lead the Sharks would have in the entire game. UMass scored the next seven points, highlighted by some Melissa Hales trickery. Hales, who had twenty six sets that led to Beacon points, demonstrated her ability to score on her own when she punched the ball over the net when the Simmons players thought she was going to give it to another Beacon to spike.

Simmons took several timeouts in order to stall the Beacon momentum, but to no avail. Emphatic points by Torres and junior Laura Chaves got the Beacon crowd to make some noise. The Beacons captured the second set 30-8 to take a 2-0 lead.

Smith began the third set with a monstrous spike and Torres scored two aces in helping UMass take a 10-0 lead. After a Simmons timeout, Smith was right back at it with a block for a point and then followed it up with a beautiful serve for an ace. Amazing plays by Torres and McDonough finished off the set 30-12 and gave UMass a decisive win.