BOSTON, Mass. – With a combined .293 hitting percentage UMass Boston volleyball (5-4) defeated non-conference opponent Colby-Sawyer College (2-5) by the final of 3-0 (25-14, 25-8, 25-16) Tuesday evening in the Clark Athletic Center in the first-ever meeting between the two programs.

Combined the Beacons drove home a total of 35 kills on 82 attempts, while only surrendering a mere 11 errors.  At the end line the Beacons recorded 11 service aces, with Brooke Nemethy (Oviedo, Fla.) scoring six of them.

Senior Shannon Thompson (Moorpark, Calif.) paced the Beacons offense with her season-high .593 attacking percentage.  On 27 attempts, the three-time AVCA All-American scored 16 kills and was not charged with an attack error all night. . Junior Amber Clemons (Simi Valley, Calif.) finished second on the team with five kills and a .571 attack percentage.

Setters Emma Rocha (Boynton Beach, Fla.) and Megan Pollock (Wilton, Calif.) combined for 28 assists respectively, with Rocha also scoring two service aces.  Defensive, Corrine Porter (Huntington Beach, Calif.) tallied 10 digs, with senior Kayla Wilson (San Jose, Calif.) right behind her with eight.

At the net UMass dominated with a combined seven team blocks.  Thompson tallied six block assists, while newcomers Molly Witzmann (Encinitas, Calif.) and Briana Sousa (Swansea, Mass.) each recording three block assists.  Kirsten Morrison (North Reading, Mass.) recorded the only Beacons solo block of the night.

For Colby-Sawyer Courtney O'Hara recorded a team-high six kills and seven digs.  Ally Le-Bruno finished with eight digs and Laura Smolinski posted 17 assists.

The first two sets of Tuesday's match belonged to UMass Boston from start to finish.  In the opener, the Beacons quickly took control of the momentum as they jumped out to a five point lead (6-1).  Colby-Sawyer would cut the lead to four, but they would never get any closer as the Beacons gained some breathing room as the set continued to eventually take a 25-14 victory.

In set number two UMass held the Chargers to a mere eight points, which was the fewest points scored by an opponent since the Beacons held Southern Maine to just six points in last year's conference match.

The final set was a back-and-forth affair in the early on-goings.  It was not until the Beacons went on a 6-0 run that they were able to break the set wide open.  UMass went on to earn the 25-16 victory and their first regular season home win.

Volleyball returns to action on Thursday when they host Eastern Connecticut State University at 6 p.m. in a Little East Conference opener for both squads.