The UMass Boston women’s volleyball team felt the consequences of being a young, inexperienced team, losing its 2003 season debut to the Rams of Framingham State 3-0 (23-30, 21-30, 14-30).

There are bound to be some bumps and bruises on a team that has only two returning letterwomen (Stephanie Adams, Giseli Felicio). The rest of the squad is comprised of first-year players, including eight freshmen.

There was one newcomer that showed the Little East Conference that she might be a force to reckon with down the road. Junior Katharina Schnur of Lampertheim, Germany won the season’s first LEC volleyball rookie of the week. Schnur, who plays middle blocker, recorded nine kills and three blockers.

The Beacons jumped out to a good start, building leads of four points several times early in the first set. Mental mistakes, however, began to creep into play, giving the Rams easy points and allowing Framingham State to take set number one.

The second set did not prove to be any better for UMB as the Beacons slipped to a quick 13-6 deficit and then 19-9 disadvantage. The team pulled back to within five, 20-15, but it was not enough to overtake the Rams in the second set.

The final set of the match was competitive for the first 15 or so points, but after Framingham State took an 8-7 lead, they went on 22-7 run to close out the game.

The team is set to face Simmons College at the Clark Athletic Center on Saturday September 13 at 12pm.