Senior Melissa Hales served up 27 assists, many of them to fellow senior middle blocker Laurel Smith, who had a team high 18 kills. Not to be out done was Stephanie Adams, who once again proved her immense value to the team by contributing eight aces, including four in a row in the second set.
The Beacons had an encouraging start by taking the tightly contested first set 33-31. A clever tip by Adams and a kill attempt gone awry by a Newbury player gave the Beacons the two points for the lead.
The start of the second set saw UMB lose their focus and Newbury capitalize on the Beacon mistakes as the Nighthawks jumped out to a 14-6 advantage. However, the Beacons rallied to score six consecutive points, led by Adams’s serving, which eventually cut the gap to a one point Newbury lead.
The Nighthawks rebounded from their sluggish play to rebuild the lead to five points, 22-17. Tomo Morishita of Newbury then emphatically scored back-to-back points as Newbury tied the match at one set apiece.
Newbury once more took the early advantage of the sluggish play of the Beacons, but this time UMB responded earlier to deficit and tied the game at 7-7. Newbury took from that point, scoring seven consecutive points on their way to a set high lead of 13 points, 25-12. Although UMB made a modest 4-0 run and closed the gap to three points, it was too little, too late as Newbury took the third set, 30-26, to go ahead in the match 2-1.
The start of the fourth set saw the Beacons take their first lead since the conclusion of the first set. The Nighthawks responded and retook the lead 14-10, forcing UMB to take a timeout. The timeout seemed to spark the players, surviving long periods of time with the ball in play. Coach Ken Goon kept freshmen Calvary Bou and Stephanie McDonnell rotating in and out of the game for strategic purposes, and the Beacons thwarted any attempts by Newbury to build momentum as UMB took the fourth set, 30-25.
The fifth set looked promising for the Beacons as Smith took control of the game. She did a little bit of everything out there: blocks, good serves, and her specialty – power kills – giving UMB a 6-2 lead.
After a Newbury timeout, the Nighthawks displayed their resilience once again, tying the match at 6-6. The teams matched each other point for point for a while. The Nighthawks were ahead by one point at 11-10 and ferociously attacking the Beacon service line, with several UMB players making beautiful dig attempts. However, one Newbury kill attempt found the floor as Smith barely missed the ball. This point proved crucial as the momentum swung to visitors, leading them to a 15-11 win of the fifth set and a 3-2 match win.
The Beacons had very little luck in the annual UMass Dartmouth Invitational. The team fell in both of their games, 3-0, to Babson College and the University of Southern Maine. UMB’s record stands at 3-15 as of October 24. The team is next in action tonight at 6pm at the Clark Athletic Center against Emmanuel.