BOSTON, Mass. (Nov. 12, 2026) – Avenging their only conference loss of the season, UMass Boston defeated No. 4 Plymouth State 3-1 (25-17, 25-16, 21-25, 25-21) in the Little East Conference Semifinals at the Clark Athletic Center on Thursday, Nov. 12, to advance to the conference final as the No. 1 seed. Paige Coulson (Marriottsville, Md.) led the Beacons with 14 kills and 16 points in a rematch of the regular-season finale played Nov. 7 at Plymouth State, a 3-2 road loss the Beacons erased with a complete team effort at home. Head coach Stacy Cheney's squad improved to 20-8 overall and 7-1 in the Little East Conference.
"It was a hard fought match for both teams," said head coach Stacy Cheney. "Plymouth State definitely made us work for every point. on our side, it was a great team effort. Several players had double-doubles and everyone did their jobs. i want to give kudos to our bench for their energy and excitement and a huge thank you to Beaconville for coming out and showing up for us today." #FindAWay
HOW IT HAPPENED:
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Set 1 (25-17): UMass Boston seized control from the opening rally, leading wire-to-wire after a 1-1 tie. The Beacons built a nine-point advantage at 21-12, fueled by a four-point run from 9-7 to 13-7 that included a Coulson service ace and a kill from Noemie Eugene (North Attleboro, Mass.). Audrey Cofield (Ypsilanti, Mich.) set up Eugene for the set-clinching kill at 25-17.
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Set 3 (21-25): The most competitive set of the night featured 11 ties and four lead changes. UMass Boston rallied from 7-11 with a five-point run — including kills from Mya Perron (Beverly, Mass.) and Addie Blomgren (Riverside, Ill.) and a service ace from Ashlee Wudi (Brookfield, Ill.) — to lead 12-11, but Plymouth State closed with a 5-0 run from 21-20 to take the set 25-21 and force a fourth.
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Set 4 (25-21): After six ties and a 13-13 deadlock, UMass Boston turned the match with a decisive five-point run from 11-13 to 16-13 — powered by a kill from Cofield, a service ace from Coulson and a kill from Eugene — and never relinquished the lead. A Plymouth State service error from Alexa Marucci sealed the 25-21 victory and sent the Beacons to the conference final.
BEYOND THE BOX SCORE:
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Kills leaders: Coulson paced the offense with 14 kills on a .244 hitting percentage, adding two service aces and 17 digs for a double-double and 16.0 total points. Perron was right behind with 13 kills on a .200 hitting rate, and 1.5 blocks for a double-double and 14.5 points. Eugene added six kills on a .267 hitting percentage and 1.5 blocks for 7.5 points off the bench.
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Setting and assists: Cofield and Kaitlyn Leberstien (Wilmington, Del.) each recorded 17 assists and 12 digs, both posting double-doubles in the two-setter system. Leberstien also added five kills and two service aces. The Beacons totaled 43 assists and seven service aces as a team.
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Digs: Wudi anchored the floor defense with a team-high 18 digs, contributing seven assists and a service ace. Coulson added 17 digs, Cofield and Leberstien each added 12, and Perron chipped in 10 as UMass Boston recorded 80 digs as a team.
NEXT:
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The Beacons host the Little East Conference Final on Saturday, Nov. 14, at the Clark Athletic Center in Boston, facing the winner of the Keene State vs. UMass Dartmouth semifinal. UMass Boston enters as the No. 1 seed and tournament host.
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--FIND A WAY--
