BOSTON, Mass. – In what was another tough day for Beacons volleyball, UMass Boston dropped a pair of matches on the final day of their home invitational, first falling to Bowdoin College by the final of 3-0, before dropping a heartbreaking 3-2 decision to Roger Williams University Saturday afternoon at the Clark Athletic Center Gymnasium.

THE BASICS

UMass Boston 0, Bowdoin College 3

UMass Boston (8-14)
Bowdoin College (16-4)

UMass Boston 2, Roger Williams University 3

UMass Boston (8-15)
Roger Williams University (15-11)

HOW IT HAPPENED

UMass Boston vs. Bowdoin College

In the first match of the day, the Beacons got off to a very slow start, as the Polar Bears roared past UMass with a 25-13 win in the first and a 25-22 win in the second.  It was not until the third set, the Beacons came to life, and nearly extended the match to fourth, but with three straight points by Bowdoin, the Polar Bears pulled out a 26-24 victory.

Julia Murphy (Canton, Mass.) led the Beacons offense with nine kills, while setter Pepper Baker (Tallahassee, Fla.) finished with 20 assists.  Elizabeth Glavan (Edina, Minn.) led a trio of Beacons who finished with 10 or more digs.  The Minnesota native posted a team best 15 digs, while Baker, and Eileen Shi (San Francisco, Calif.) each finished with 13. 

UMass Boston vs. Roger Williams University

In the nightcap, the Beacons squandered multiple leads which allowed the Hawks to steal the non-conference victory.  In the opening set, the Beacons came out firing earning a 25-17 win.  In what should have been their second win of the match, the Hawks managed to put together a late run to steal a 25-23 decision to even the score at 1-1.

Roger Williams would steal another victory in the third with a 25-22 decision to go up 2-1.  In the fourth, the Beacons managed to put away their opponent with a 25-20 win, to force a decisive fifth set. 

In the fifth, the Beacons struggled early, but did manage to take control of the momentum for at-least a few moments.  With Roger Williams reaching the eighth point first the two teams switched sides. 

The Beacons would then rattle of three straight points to take a 10-8 lead.  The Hawks answered back with two points to tie the match 10-10, and then retook the lead (11-10) on an ace by Josalyn Benson. 

Despite the quick surge by Roger Williams, UMass managed to dig deep and respond with a quick 3-0 run of their own to make 13-11.  However that surge fell just short, as the Hawks flew past the Beacons scoring the final four points of the match to take the 15-13 victory.

Murphy was once again solid scoring 14 kills, while also posting a .367 hitting percentage.  Shi finished with 11 kills, while Haley Diedrick (Canton, Mich.) and Colleen Koen (Centerville, Mass.) each finished with 10 kills.  Diedrick would finish with the Beacons only double-double as she also put-up 12 digs. 

Baker put-up 40 assists in the loss, and Glavan finished 22 digs to once again lead the Beacons defensive effort.  At the net Diedrick and Murphy each recorded three block assists, while senior Bri Sousa (Swansea, Mass.) finished with four solo blocks and two block assists, to become just the third player in program history to record over 300 total blocks in a career.  The Swansea native now sits with 306 total blocks as she gets ready for the final week of the regular season.

BY THE NUMBERS

• Saturday's loss to Bowdoin College marked the third straight to the Polar Bears since 2013, as they now stand at 4-7 all-time
• The loss to Roger Williams is just the second loss in the last two seasons, as UMass has won five of the last eight meetings
• The only two players to also record 300 more total blocks in a career are all-time leader Shannon Thompson '13 (376) and Molly Rattigan '12 (360)
• On the weekend Baker tallied a combined 147 assists respectively

WHO'S NEXT

The Beacons will host UMass Dartmouth on Tuesday at 6 p.m. in the final home contest of the 2015 regular season.  Prior to the start of the match, the Beacons will honor their lone senior member in Sousa.