UMass Boston

BOSTON, Mass. (Sept. 12, 2026) – The UMass Boston Beacons volleyball team dropped a heartbreaking 3-2 decision to Amherst College in the final match of the 2026 UMB Volleyball Invitational on Saturday at the Clark Athletic Center.

UMass Boston is now 6-2 on the season, while Amherst sits at 4-2.

Set One (25-23):
The two teams traded points for much of the early stages of the set before a Mammoths' service error sparked a run of five straight points to give the Beacons a 15-10 lead. Amherst then battled back to cut the lead to one on three different occasions before Josie Becker (Westchester, Ill.) delivered a kill to seal the 25-23 victory.

Set Two (22-25):
Similar to the first set, it proved to be close throughout with neither side leading by more than four points. UMass Boston held a 17-13 edge before the Mammoths tallied seven consecutive points and then held on for the 25-22 win.

Set Three (25-23):
The Beacons got off to a dominant start and led 12-3 at one point following a kill from Mya Perron (Beverly, Mass.). However, Amherst battled back and eventually took a 23-22 lead before a pair of kills from Paige Coulson (Marriottsville, Md.) sandwiched around an Audrey Cofield (Ypsilanti, Mich.) ace clinched things for the Beacons.

Set Four (20-25):
UMass Boston led 15-14 after a Coulson kill in a closely contested set, but the Mammoths recorded the next four points en route to forcing the decisive fifth set with the 25-20 win.

Set Five (15-17):
Head coach Stacy Cheney's team got off to a strong start and led 8-3 in the early going of the fifth set. Addie Blomgren (Riverside, Ill.) delivered a service ace to make it a 10-5 advantage before Amherst registered six straight points to regain the lead at 11-10. The Beacons continued to battle and staved off multiple match points – eventually knotting things at 15-but the final two points of the evening went to the Mammoths.

BY THE NUMBERS:
Coulson led the Beacons with a season-high 17 kills, which were her most in a match since recording 21 on Oct. 18, 2025 at WestConn. The Marriottsville, Md., native also added 13 digs for her third double-double of the season.

Perron joined Coulson in double figures with 12 kills and added a double-double of her own with 18 digs.

Cofield set up the offense all match long with a season-best 40 assists, marking her most in a match since she had 40 on Nov. 1, 2025 at Eastern Connecticut State.

Ashlee Wudi (Brookfield, Ill.) tallied a team-high 20 digs for the Beacons and fellow first year Kaitlyn Leberstien (Wilmington, Del.) added 15 of her own.

For Amherst, Raegan Lentz led the way with 17 kills.

UP NEXT:
The Beacons return to action on Wednesday, Sept. 16 at Wheaton (Mass.) with action slated to begin at 7 p.m.

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