Box Score
Recap Courtesy of UMass Boston Sports Information
BOSTON, Mass. – A Bri Sousa (Swansea, Mass.) solo block would cap volleyball's 12th straight win as the Beacons pulled out a back-and-forth affair to earn 3-2 victory over regional rival Tufts University Tuesday evening in the Clark Athletic Center Gymnasium.
Sousa's solo stop gave the Beacons their 13th win of the 2014 season, as they improved 13-3 overall. For Tufts, Tuesday's loss drops their record to 7-6, and ties the all-time series between the two teams at 5-5.
Along with the key block in game five, the Beacons also used a career-high 20 kills from sophomore Julia Murphy (Canton, Mass.). The Canton native hit .381 on the night, in perhaps the best overall performance of her career. Classmate Jodie Munchbach (Dedham, Mass.) also crushed a career-high in kills scoring 14 in the win.
UMass managed to overcome five different lead changes to take game one 25-17. Game two was not one of the Beacons best as the Jumbos just cruised to a 25-12 victory. The Beacons then took a 2-1 lead following a 25-20 win. In what could have been the deciding game, Tufts managed to hold-off the Beacons late run, and took advantage of a couple key errors to take a 25-22 decision. The final game was a close one from start to finish, but the Beacons managed the score the final three points to take a 15-11 victory.
Setters Emma Rocha (Boynton Beach, Fla.) and Pepper Baker (Tallahassee, Fla.) were almost even in assists in Tuesday's victory with Rocha holding a 28-27 advantage respectively. Elizabeth Glavan (Edina, Minn.) recorded her fourth match of the year with 30+ digs. Her 32 digs matched a season-high from the Beacons 3-2 win over NESCAC rival Williams College back on September 12.
Munchbach earned her first career double-double as she came-up with 14 digs, while also tallying a career-high 28 service receptions. Murphy was solid at the net all night with her three solo blocks and five block assists. Sousa matched her teammate in solo stops and had one block assist.
For the Jumbos they were led by Mary Maccabee's 15 kills. Isabel Kuhel dropped in 10 kills and had a .348 hitting percentage. Kyra Baum had an impressive showing with her 37 assists, while Carolina Berger led the team with 13 digs overall. Gillian Wahleithner finished second with 10 digs and also had a pair of block assists. Elizabeth Ahrens combined for three solo blocks and had nine kills and a team-best .444 hitting percentage.
Volleyball returns to action on Friday when they travel to Wellesley College for a 7 p.m. non-conference match. The Jumbos will be back in action on Friday when they head up to Bates for a 7 pm match.
