BOSTON, Mass. – It was a thrilling five set victory for UMass Boston Women's Volleyball inside the Clark Athletic Center on Friday night as the Beacons kept their Little East Conference playoff hopes alive with their win, 3-2, over WestConn.

UMass Boston needs to win their final LEC match against Castleton on the road and have the University of Southern Maine drop their final two LEC matches to Keene State and WestConn to sneak in as the sixth seed in the conference tournament.

THE BASICS

UMass Boston 3, WestConn 2

UMass Boston (6-16, 2-5 LEC)

WestConn (11-10, 4-3 LEC)
 
HOW IT HAPPENED

The Wolves jumped out to an early 3-0 lead in the first set on two kills from freshman outside hitter Anna Cascapera and a service ace, but a 4-1 run by the Beacons helped them pull even in the set at four a piece. After WestConn took opened up a four-point edge, 15-11, UMass Boston would respond again with a 3-0 run due in part to a pair of errors committed by the Wolves to pull within one, 15-14.

A 5-1 run for the Wolves would give them their largest lead of the set at five points, 20-15, and allowed them to pull away, 25-23, despite a feverish comeback that saw the Beacons pull within one point, 24-23, before sophomore Elayna Beutel's kill gave WestConn the first set.

Trading points back and forth to open set two, UMass Boston pulled the first punch, kills from three different players, a service ace, and service error to crack open a 10-5 lead. The Wolves would creep back into the match, eventually tying it up at 13 all, but the Beacons responded again with a quick 5-1 run, taking control of the set, and coming away with a 25-21 second set win.

A set of runs was the definition of set three after WestConn went up 4-1 in the frame followed by UMass Boston mounting a 10-2 run that saw them go ahead by five, 11-6, forcing a timeout from the Wolves. That timeout would lead to a 7-1 run that saw WestConn retake the lead, 13-12.

Following three ties and two lead changes, both teams would exchange 3-0 runs, first the Beacons thanks to three attack errors and then the Wolves with three consecutive kills to knot the set up at 18. Six more ties and lead changes would eventually result in UMass Boston taking a back and forth third set, 26-24.

With their backs against the wall, WestConn's attack came out in full force as they opened up an early five-point lead, 7-2, and never looked back. Leading by as many as 13 points in the fourth set, the Wolves kept the match alive with a resounding fourth set victory, 25-13, to force a decisive fifth set.

Trailing 2-0 in the final set, UMass Boston would be winners in 10 of the next 13 points, opening up an 10-5 advantage. WestConn would pull within three, 12-9, before the Beacons sealed the deal with the remaining three points of the fifth set on a pair of errors by the Wolves and a kill from sophomore hitter Dylan Wertzberger to secure their second LEC victory of the season.  
 
BY THE NUMBERS

• Freshman setter Amelia Devlin continued her strong second half of the season surge, finishing with 34 assists, it is the third match this season in which Devlin has recorded 30-plus assists in a match and seventh 20-plus assist match
• Junior hitter Livia Trindade had a strong showing, leading the way for the Beacons with 12 kills
• Senior hitter Taryn Broughal had a well-rounded match, finishing the day with 11 kills, four aces, and four blocks
• This is the third consecutive win for UMass Boston over WestConn and eighth in their last nine matchups

WHO'S NEXT
The Beacons close out their regular season home schedule with Senior Day next Thursday at 7:00 PM in a non-conference matchup against Emerson College inside Clark Athletic Center. UMass Boston took on the Lions on the road in their season opener last year, dropping the match in three sets.