NEW YORK CITY, N.Y. – On day two of the New York University Violet Classic, volleyball (6-7) played a pair of extremely tough matches first taking on the host Violets of NYU and the Bulldogs of DeSales University (Pa.) Saturday afternoon at the Coles Sports Center.

The Beacons having never faced DeSales University earned a 3-1 victory in the tournament finale for both squads.  However in the first match, the Beacons played a back-and-forth battle with an NYU squad that advanced to the NCAA "Final Eight" in 2009.  The meeting between the two regional contendors was also a first and proved to be the toughest match of the weekend for UMB.

In the opener, NYU was caught off guard by an eager Beacons squad looking to upset the home team on their own floor.  The Beacons cruised to a 25-13 win to build some early momentum.  Unfortunately the Violets returned the favor in the second with a decisive 25-15 win over UMB.  In the crucial third game, UMB battled back from some early deficits, but were unable to make a push in the end with NYU earning a slim 25-22 decision.  The final game was even closer as the Beacons made a huge push in the deciding fourth game, but again it was the Violets earning the decision this time by the final of 25-23.

To close out the afternoon, the Beacons took out some of their frustrations for their tough loss to NYU out on the Bulldogs of DeSales.  UMB wasted little time jumping out in front of the Bulldogs and eventually earned a 25-19 victory in the first game.  Game two however was a different story as the Beacons struggled to build any momentum which would result in DeSales taking a 25-18 win.  The last two games were both back-and-forth exchanges with UMB taking a 25-23 win in the third and a 25-22 win in the fourth and the match.

MATCH ONE – UMass Boston 1, NYU 3

Against NYU it was Julia Murphy (Canton, Mass.) who led the Beacons offense with her nine kills and impressive .438 hitting percentage.  Emma Rocha (Boynton Beach, Fla.) put-up 23 assists in the non-conference loss, while Elizabeth Glavan (Edina, Minn.) and Patsy Boland (Chicago, Ill.) finished with a combined 23 digs respectively.  Boland was eventually named to the All-Tournament team after a strong weekend for the freshman. At the net the Beacons blocking which was touch and go all weekend, combined for 16 block assists against the Violets.  Murphy led UMB at the net with five block assists, while Molly Witzmann (Encinitas, Calif.) and Bri Sousa (Swansea, Mass.) each finishing with three block assists.

MATCH TWO – UMass Boston 3, DeSales University (Pa.) 1

In the day's second match it was the duo of Boland and Pepper Baker (Tallahassee, Fla.) who led the way for the Beacons.  The two freshmen combined for 24 kills, with Baker scoring a career-best 11.  Rocha had another strong showing at setter tallying 26 assists.  Defensively it was all Glavan for the Beacons as the freshman libero came-up with 24 digs.  Sousa was dominant at the net scoring seven block assists, while also picking up six kills in the non-conference win.

The Beacons return to action on Thursday when they travel to Rhode Island College for a 6 p.m. Little East Conference match.