It was simply just a case of too little, too late.

The Minutewomen will close up their 2001 campaign against Duquesne at home on Saturday night, falling just a bit short of reaching the Atlantic 10 postseason. UMass notched its third straight conference win and seventh A-10 win overall after defeating Fordham on Sunday, but was eliminated from the playoff hunt when Temple (owning the tiebreaker over UMass) picked up its eighth conference victory on Tuesday to stake claim to the fourth and final seed. Now the Maroon and White (14-11 overall, 7-8 A-10) will be looking to finish the season with a four-match winning streak, and have the graduating seniors go out with a victory in their last home match.

“Unfortunately, we’re not getting in, so I think it’s just a matter of pride and seeing if we can finish at .500 and let these four seniors win their last match that they’ll play in the [Curry Hicks] Cage,” Head Coach Bonnie Kenny said.

For Lauren Vander Veen, Lymarie Llovet, Celia Wiste, and Janeen DeMarte, the matchup with the Dukes will be the last time they don the maroon and white in their careers. All four seniors have had solid seasons for the Minutewomen, but will fail to reach the postseason in their final campaign. Still, Kenny expects her four outgoing players to be fired up for Saturday, and thinks that the intensity shown by her team during its last three matches will continue against Duquesne.

“They’ve [played hard] for the last three weeks, so I don’t see why they would throw it all away in the last match of the season,” Kenny said. “I would hope it’s important to the [four seniors] to remember their last match in the Cage on a positive note.

“I haven’t had trouble motivating them in practice.”

Duquesne visits the Cage with a record of 16-8 overall, and 8-6 in the A-10. The Dukes are led by Sherene Lemonias (3.93 kills/game) and Brooke Saunders (3.47 kills/game), and come into the weekend having won five of their last seven matches. Duquesne defeated the Minutewomen in the Steel City, 3-1, on Oct. 12, as Lemonias had a match-high 17 kills on the evening. Vander Veen led the Maroon and White with 15 kills against the Dukes, but UMass could not contain the powerful offense of the hosts.

The Minutewomen could not only split the season series with Duquesne with a victory, but they also have an added incentive: playing the spoiler role. Although UMass has been ousted from the playoff race, Temple still has one more team to fend off – Duquesne. A strong finish by the Minutewomen could help send the Dukes back to Pittsburgh with no postseason play.

“Duquesne’s had a very good year; they’ve played well, and we haven’t been able to beat them,” Kenny said. “We have another opportunity. Hopefully we’ll play as well as we’ve been playing and it’ll be a good match.”

Still, the Minutewomen could be looking back at this season on what might have been. Had UMass displayed the dominant attack and strong defensive play evident in the last three matches (against URI, Fordham, and GW), the Maroon and White very well could be competing for the A-10 crown being held here in Amherst. Unfortunately, the team could not make up the ground it lost during the middle of the season.

“I think it’s unfortunate that we’re not going to be in the tournament; we just started to play well a little too late,” Kenny said.