CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – Led by Christy Jewett's match-high 13 kills the Polar Bears of Bowdoin College defeated volleyball by the final of 3-0 Friday afternoon in the first round of the 2015 NCAA Regional Tournament hosted by MIT. 

THE BASICS

UMass Boston 0, Bowdoin College 3

UMass Boston (12-16)
Bowdoin College (24-4)

HOW IT HAPPENED

In what started off as a back-and-forth battle quickly became a one-sided victory for Bowdoin, as they cruised past the Beacons 25-16 in the first and 25-11 in the second.  Late in the third set, UMass jumped out to their largest lead of the afternoon, but could not hold on as the Polar Bears clawed past the Beacons with a 25-20 decision.

As a team the Beacons offense struggled to build any type of momentum, as they hit just .030 on the day.  Eileen Shi (San Francisco, Calif.) finished off her first regional tournament match, with a team-best 11 kills and hit a solid .320.  She also posted a match-high 14 digs to close out a strong postseason for the now Little East Rookie of the Year.

Senior Bri Sousa (Swansea, Mass.) finished second on the team with five kills and had two block assists in her final match with the Beacons.  Sousa ended her career as one of the top blockers in program history, as she stands as just one of four players to ever record 300 or more career blocks.  Pepper Baker (Tallahassee, Fla.) combined for 18 assists, and had all three of the Beacons service aces. 

Freshman Haley Diedrick (Canton, Mich.) was strong defensively for the Beacons, as she totaled 13 digs and had three block assists.  Julia Murphy (Canton, Mass.), and Colleen Koen (Centerville, Mass.) each had three kills, with Murphy also finishing with three block assists. 

BY THE NUMBERS

• UMass Boston is now 12-3 all-time in the NCAA Regional Tournament with Friday's loss
• The win for the Polar Bears marked their first-ever over the Beacons in the NCAA Regional tournament, having dropped a pair of 3-2 decisions. 
• UMass Boston ended their 2015 season as the now seven-time Little East Conference Regular season champs and six time tournament champions