WATERVILLE, Maine (Sept. 1, 2026) – The UMass Boston Beacons volleyball team opened the 2026 season in style with a 3-0 sweep of the Thomas College Terriers on Tuesday afternoon at Larry Mahaney Gymnasium.
UMass Boston took the three sets by scores of 25-15, 25-20 and 25-6 en route to the victory. This marked the first ever meeting between the two teams.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
- Following a kill from Paige Coulson (Marriottsville, Md.) that made it 12-8 Beacons in the first set, the visitors then took four of the next five points to open up a 16-9 advantage. Thomas was unable to get any closer than four the rest of the way and UMass Boston notched the final four points of the set in the 25-15 win.
- The Beacons controlled play for a majority of the second set and led 10-2 before Thomas battled back to cut the lead to 14-9. A Coulson kill and a block solo from Adele Accelus (Longmeadow, Mass.) swung the momentum back the other way as part of the set victory.
- Head coach Stacy Cheney's team put together a dominant third set including 12 straight points and cruised to the 25-6 win to finish the sweep of the Terriers.
BEYOND THE BOX SCORE:
- Coulson paced the Beacons with six kills, while Mya Perron (Beverly, Mass.) added four and the duo of Accelus and Addie Blomgren (Riverside, Ill.) tallied three apiece. Elsewhere statistically, Coulson added three service aces and nine digs.
- A pair of players shined in their collegiate debuts for UMass Boston as Kaitlyn Leberstien (Wilmington, Del.) tallied a double-double (10 assists, 11 digs) and Ashlee Wudi (Brookfield, Ill.) recorded three assists, five service aces and nine digs.
NEXT:
- The Beacons will battle William Paterson on Friday, Sept. 4 at 5:00 PM in the team's opening match of the Greg "Gio" Giovanazzi Memorial Tournament hosted by Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Md.
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