BOSTON, Mass. – Led by a total team effort, the top-seeded Beacons cruised back to the Little East Conference championship match as they blanked Western Connecticut State University by the final of 3-0 Thursday evening in the semi-final round of the LEC Tournament in the Clark Athletic Center Gymnasium.

THE BASICS

UMass Boston 3, Western Connecticut State University 0

#1 UMass Boston (11-15)
#4 Western Conn. State U. (21-12)

HOW IT HAPPENED

With a team hitting percentage of .327 UMass Boston avenged their semi-final loss from one year ago to advance to their seventh conference title match in the last eight seasons.  The Beacons will host the championship match on Saturday at 1 p.m. with the winner earning the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.

In the first two sets, UMass could not be stopped as the pounded the Colonials with a 25-12 win in the first and a 25-15 win in the second.  The third frame however, was a much closer affair, but with a great play by setter Pepper Baker (Tallahassee, Fla.) UMass earned the 25-23 decision and the semi-final victory.

Senior Julia Murphy (Canton, Mass.) played with a vengeance in Thursday's victory, as she scored 13 kills, and posted a match-high .619 hitting percentage.  Junior Colleen Koen (Centerville, Mass.) was just as solid as she scored a career-best 15 kills, while also hitting .464.  Baker put-up an impressive 34 assist, and also had five kills and eight digs to play one of her best overall contests this season.

Eileen Shi (San Francisco, Calif.) and Elizabeth Glavan (Edina, Minn.) combined for 30 of the Beacons 49 digs respectively, while at the net Murphy was dominant in the first two frames scoring four solo blocks and one block assist.  Senior Bri Sousa (Swansea, Mass.) was just as strong posting three solo blocks and two blocks assists, while also scoring three huge kills at pivotal moments. 

For the Colonials, they were led by Jacqueline Kanuk as she finished with seven kills.  Danielle Kaminsky tallied 21 assists, and Karissa Smith finished with 13 digs and three kills in the conferment tournament loss.

BY THE NUMBERS

• Thursday's win over the Colonials marked the third victory in the last five meetings in conference tournament play 
• UMass Boston will now play in their seventh tournament title match in the last eight years
• All-time UMass Boston is now 10-17 against the Colonials
• The Beacons .327 hitting percentage marked the fourth time this season that the Beacons hit over .300

WHO'S NEXT

The Beacons will host either Keene State College or Rhode Island College on Saturday at 1 p.m. in the conference championship match.