In any battle, a side with stronger, more plentiful weapons will generally come away victorious.
This was certainly the case in Friday’s match between the Massachusetts volleyball team and visiting Xavier, as the Musketeers used a strong multi-faceted attack to upend the Minutewomen in straight sets (30-24, 30-14, 30-28).
Four players posted 12 kills for Xavier [8-1 overall, 2-1 Atlantic 10] and only one of them made more than two errors on the match to lead the Musketeers to an impressive .296 team hitting percentage for the match. Freshman setter Molly Martin posted 46 assists in the three-game victory.
The first game of the match saw the two teams neck-and-neck out of the gates. With the Maroon and White holding a 14-13 lead, senior Amanda Lang threw down one of her 12 kills on the match to spark a four-point rally for the visitors that was snuffed out when sophomore Nitia Small brought the Minutewomen within three at 18-15.
With the score at 20-15 Xavier, senior Lauren Vander Veen made a key block on junior Katey Wygant to light a fire under the Minutewomen. With freshman Michelle Spaleta serving, UMass ran off three more consecutive points to again draw the Minutewomen within one. But sophomore Kimberly Cockerel came on strong with three kills in the game’s waning moments to propel the visitors to a 30-24 first game victory in which they hit at a .277 clip.
The second game was all Xavier from the get-go, as senior Jill Hampton put home three kills in a row to begin the match. After a Martin ace, Cockerel and senior superstar Sara Bachus knocked down consecutive kills of their own to get the Musketeers out to a 6-0 advantage.
From there, it was back and forth as UMass tried in vain to claw its way back into the match. After making three errors in four plays, the Minutewomen found themselves in a 16-8 hole, which was momentarily relieved by an impressive Vander Veen block. However, it was not enough to get the offensive woes out of the Maroon and White’s system, as the Musketeers used an amazing .471 hitting percentage, compared to UMass’s .000, to post a decisive 30-14 win.
Game Three was by far the best contest of the match, but again UMass found itself in an early hole. Bachus and Wygant combined for four kills in five points collectively to put Xavier up 8-4 early. But two Xavier errors combined with a kill by senior co-captain Lymarie Llovet and a key block by junior Jitka Stehnova brought the Minutewomen to within one point at 9-8.
But Small made key errors on consecutive plays for the Maroon and White and Wygant tallied an ace for the visitors to make the count 12-8, Xavier. The two teams jockeyed back and forth, but with the score 18-14 Musketeers, the Minutewomen mounted a comeback as multiple errors by the visitors brought the home squad to within two at 19-17 and prompted a Xavier timeout.
After the break, a tremendous volley ensued between the two sides, with both teams refusing to give an inch. Finally, an attempted Hampton kill went awry, causing raucous applause from the spectators. Another Llovet block brought the crowd to its feet and the home team found itself in a 19-19 deadlock.
After neck-and-neck play over the next several points, the score stood at 27-27. Lang then threw down an impressive kill on the next play, and followed that up by serving up an ace to put her squad on the brink of victory at 29-27. Llovet would follow that up with a kill, but it was not enough. On the following play Hampton and Wygant combined to finish the match with a stellar block to gain the 30-28 triumph.
Lang and Hampton each posted double-doubles in the match, as each tallied 12 kills and 15 and 10 digs, respectively. Nitia Small led a lackluster Maroon and White offensive effort with nine kills on the match as the Minutewomen only hit at a .143 clip for the three-game set.
