UMass Boston Women’s Volleyball suffered a tough loss in their home game Saturday, Sept. 23 against Plymouth State University, cooling down after being on fire recently. According to Beacons Athletics, they previously won five out of seven games. (1) The Beacons looked to rebound on the road against the Bisons of Nichols College in Dudley, Mass. According to their website, nicholsathletics.com, the team came into the game against UMass Boston on a three-game losing streak, with their last loss being a heartbreaking 3–2 bout against Suffolk University in their conference opener after a red-hot start to the year.
At the beginning of the match, it was all UMass Boston to begin the first set. According to Beacons Athletics, the Beacons jumped to a quick 22–15 lead in the set to 25. Nichols College fought back and went on a 5–2 run, shrinking the lead to just four points, and tilting the momentum. With the score now 24–20, UMass Boston needed just one more point to take the set. The Beacons survived the Bison’s comeback, as Mya Perron finished the set at 25–20 with her second kill of the game. (3)
To begin the second set, UMass Boston dominated with a swift 25–16 win. It was once again Perron who took command, as she got six kills in the win. The Beacons set themselves up in the driver’s seat early, up 2–0 in the best of five series, and looked to close out Nichols College with a sweep. Unfortunately, they weren’t able to break out the brooms. As noted by Beacons Athletics, the Bisons came back in the third set with a hard-fought 25–15 win (3). The Beacons did not give up; they still had the game in their grasp and were still within one set to win the whole match. Nichols College was fighting hard, though, refusing to go down easily.
The fourth set was a vigorous back-and-forth affair with both teams trading blows throughout the entire thing. The Beacons took the lead late, making it 22–21, and UMass Boston looked to finish the game off and head back home with a win. However, the Bisons had different plans of their own, escaping with a 4–1 run to win the set 25–23 after the Beacons came oh-so close to finishing them off.
From being down 2–0, Nichols College came all the way back with a pair of set wins of their own, tying it 2–2 for the final winner-take-all set. The Beacons were still alive and well, and very much still in control of their own destiny up to this point. It was the first time UMass Boston had their backs against the wall like this, up 2–0, and on the brink of a devastating loss with the game locked at 2–2. This was a tough test for the Beacons, but also a perfect opportunity to see what they were made of.
The fifth and final set would be played first to 15 instead of 25. The tired Bisons didn’t give in, jumping to an early 12–8 lead, causing desperation for the Beacons, as they inched closer to blowing a demanding 2–0 lead. They got just the right amount of juice needed to come back, as a kill from Perron and a pair of kills from Taryn Broughal, combined with an array of mental errors from the Bisons, helped the Beacons in the long run. As a result, UMass Boston squeaked away with the 15–13 victory, taking the match 3–2.
Some vital stats to note, collected by Beacons Athletics, include Rudy Ackerman’s fantastic game, finishing with a career-high 40 assists, while Ally Dean led the team with 20 digs in the match. Along with her nice kills, Broughal finished the game with five blocks, her season-high. Beacons Athletics notes that, unfortunately, it won’t be until Saturday, Oct. 14 that the Beacons return home for a 1:00 p.m. matchup against Western Connecticut State, but the team will look to secure some wins on the road in the meantime. Be sure to support your fellow classmates in their quest for the Little East Conference championship, it’ll be a long time coming since the last time they played in front of Beaconville, so make some noise when they return in their homecoming.
- https://beaconsathletics.com/sports/womens-volleyball
- https://nicholsathletics.com/sports/womens-volleyball
- Volleyball Goes the Distance, Hangs On Against Nichols – UMass Boston (beaconsathletics.com)