Worcester State Wins Five-Setter on Opening Night of Lancer Gymnasium

WORCESTER, Mass. – On the opening night of Lancer Gymnasium, the Worcester State University women's volleyball strung together to beat the UMass Dartmouth Corsairs 3-2 (20-25, 25-16, 23-25, 25-17, 17-15) in their first five-setter of the season.

With the win, the Lancers advance to 2-1 on the season, while the Corsairs match Worcester State's record of 2-1 with the loss.

The first set began with a battle as the score was tied for the fifth time at 15-15. Though, the Corsairs went on a scoring run to defeat the Lancers 25-20 in the first set victory. The Lancers struck back in the second stanza as they marked a .345 team attack percentage in comparison to the Corsairs' -.033.

In the third set, UMass Dartmouth came out with four unanswered points, from where they held the lead at four until Worcester struck back and eventually took the 12-11 lead on an assisted block from Megan Rouillard (Barrington, N.H.) and Quinn Donovan (Marion, Mass.). After the score was tied at 22-22, the Corsairs ran away with the set on a service ace from Christina Spinazola (Medway, Mass.) and kills from Emily West (Holyoke, Mass.) and Taila Roberson (Norwalk, Conn.).

Worcester State once again came back into the game and won the fourth set 25-17. After the score was tied at 14-14, Worcester's Sarah Powers (Hopkinton, Mass.) and Stephanie Chapin (Hampden, Mass.) sparked the Lancers' offense to lead both teams to the final and deciding fifth set.

The fifth set looked as if the Corsairs were going to take the victory when they were ahead 13-7. Nevertheless, Worcester State completed the comeback when three UMass Dartmouth errors and two Worcester kills closed the gap to 13-12. UMass Dartmouth responded with a kill from Roberson. However, Worcester's Chapin and Rouillard pulled within and took the 15-14 lead. UMass Dartmouth's Anita Sengara (Vancouver, B.C.) marked the kill to knot the score at 15. Worcester State polished off the 17-15 win when Powers spawned a kill and Roulliard concluded with a service ace.

Worcester State's trio of Emily Carens (Northborough, Mass.), Chapin, and Powers led the team offensively with 13, 12, and 10 kills apiece, respectively. Carens registered a team-high .333 attack percentage while Powers followed with .240. Alexandra Nolan (Melrose, Mass.) marked a game-high 35 assists while Megan Leavens (W. Boylston, Mass.) led the team with a game-high five service aces. On the defensive end, libero Katrina Kangwijaya (Dunstable, Mass.) notched another game-high 29 digs, as both Donovan and Powers earned three blocks apiece.

For the Corsairs, Sengara controlled the scoring as she chalked a game-high 14 kills, while West grabbed eight with a kill percentage of .333. Spinazola tallied 32 assists, five service aces, 11 digs, and a solo block. Jillian Sykora (Waterford, Conn.) carried the team in digs with 19. Taila Roberson marked a game high five blocks on the evening (one solo).

The Lancers return to action this weekend (Sep. 9-10) as they travel to Wesleyan for a tournament. UMass Dartmouth resumes play on Saturday (Sep. 10) when they host Eastern Nazarene and Lasell in a tri-match.