DANBURY, C.T. - UMass Boston Women's Volleyball split a road doubleheader on Saturday afternoon, falling to the hosts Western Connecticut 3-2 before sweeping Mount Saint Mary College in straight sets. 

THE BASICS
UMass Boston 2, Western Connecticut State 3
UMass Boston 3, Mount Saint Mary College 0

UMass Boston (13-8, 3-3 LEC)

HOW IT HAPPENED
The Beacons' battle with WestConn got off to a slow start with the hosts taking the first two sets 25-15 and 25-11. Unfazed by the deficit, UMass Boston fought back. In the third set, Paige Coulson's five kills powered a 25-15 victory for the Beacons.

Set number four was the best of the match for UMass Boston. Powered offensively by Coulson again, the Beacons jumped out to a 19-8 lead and did not look back. Coulson and Taryn Broughal each tacked on a kill and Dylan Wertzeberger secured the 25-11 victory with a service ace. 

In the decisive fifth set, the Beacons fell behind 11-7 in the race to 15. Kills from Coulson, Wertzberger, and Livia Trindade flipped the deficit into a 14-13 lead. UMass Boston could not capitalize on their match point opportunities as the Wolves stormed back to take the set and the match.

After a hard-fought battle in their first match, the Beacons faced another tall in task in Mount Saint Mary. The Knights chipped away at an early 12-5 UMass Boston lead to cut it to 23-18. A pair of forced errors closed out the set for a 1-0 Beacons lead.

In the second set, The Knights used a 5-0 run to turn a 16-11 Beacons lead into a tied score. Kills from Katie Touhy, Couslon, and Trindade swung the set to 20-17 in their favor. A service ace from Coulson and a kill from Ruby Ackerman secured the set for the Beacons.

The persistent Knights once again made a comfortable lead uncomfortable for the Beacons, battling back from down 15-7 to trail by just two, 21-19. A pair of Mount Saint Mary errors and back-to-back service aces from Ally Dean closed out the third set and secured the sweep for the Beacons.

BY THE NUMBERS

• Only Mya Perron (17 on 10/7) has had more kills in a match than Paige Coulson's 16 against WestConn
• In just 10 matches played, Livia Trindade has 80 kills
• With 25 saves against WestConn, Ally Dean came up just short of her career-high 26 against St. Joseph's earlier this season
• Amelia Devlin led the team with 28 assists in the first match and 16 in the second
  • Her 6.52 assists per set rank second in the Little East Conference
• The Beacons have a 17-19 record in their all-time series with WestConn
• Saturday marked the first-ever meeting between UMass Boston Volleyball and Mount Saint Mary College

WHO'S NEXT
The Beacons will take a much shorter trip on Wednesday afternoon, crossing the city to face Simmons College at 7 PM.