Volleyball Completes Comeback in Five Against UMass Dartmouth

KEENE, N.H. – Down 2-0, Suffolk volleyball rallied set-after-set to capture a 3-2 non-conference win over UMass Dartmouth Saturday afternoon. The five-set victory came via set scores 17-25, 13-25, 25-16, 25-20 and 15-11.  

THE BASICS
SCORE: Suffolk 3 | UMass Dartmouth 2
RECORDS: Suffolk (16-7) | UMass Dartmouth (7-14)  

SET ONE RECAP (25-17, UMASS DARTMOUTH)

• Suffolk trial 10-2 early. 
• Hannah Fabiano and Sarah Mullahy sandwiched kills around a Corsairs point, but it wouldn't be enough to make a rally as the Rams found themselves in a 10-point, 16-6 hole. 
• After the blue-and-gold's second timeout of the set, the distance grew to as many as a 11, 20-9. 
• A Kaleigh Khanna kill sparked a 6-2 Suffolk spurt that trimmed the margin to eight, 23-15. The run featured a pair of Khanna and Fabiano kills, respectively. 
• The ground was too much for the Rams to make up and Dartmouth put the first point on the board behind a Suffolk service error.  

SET TWO RECAP (25-13, UMASS DARTMOUTH)

• Similar to the opening stanza, the Corsairs charged ahead to an 8-2 cushion. 
• The ground moved to double figures, 19-9, before Suffolk took a timeout. 
• Out of the huddle, the Rams strung together three straight points behind a kill from Fabiano and a pair of Corsairs miscues. 
• UMD took over from their outscoring the blue-and-gold 6-1 the rest of the way to seal the set.  

SET THREE RECAP (25-16, SUFFOLK)

• Suffolk turned things around jumped ahead 9-4. 
• The Rams' lead grew to 14-7 at the midway point. 
• Dartmouth played catchup with a 5-1 run to slice the margin to three, 15-12. 
• Suffolk scored four in a row to extend its advantage to 19-12.
• The teams traded points the remainder of the way, but thanks to its edge early on the Rams forced the fourth frame.  

SET FOUR RECAP (25-20, SUFFOLK)

• Out of a 5-all tie, four consecutive Suffolk points put the Rams in front 9-5.  
• The blue-and-gold continued to pile on the points with another unanswered stretch, this time eight straight, that extended the advantage to 18-7. 
• Dartmouth charged back, however, with a 10-3 run to make things interesting to cut Suffolk's lead to 22-19. 
• Scott Blanchard used a timeout to help his squad get composure. 
• The huddle worked and the Rams outscored the Corsairs 3-1 the rest of the way to level the match.  

SET FIVE RECAP (15-11, SUFFOLK)

• Suffolk took a 6-3 edge at the beginning that turned into an 8-5 lead when the teams switched sides. 
• The Rams held onto its advantage the remainder of the way to clinch the thriller.  

STATISTICALLY SPEAKING

• Fabiano and Kayla Barbera paved the path for the blue-and-gold as the juniors each registered double-doubles. Fabiano had a match-high 16 kills to go along with 14 digs, while Barbera put together a 12-kill, 11-dig effort.
• Mullahy added six digs, four digs, four aces and one block. 
• Emerson Martin provided five kills, three blocks and one dig. 
• Harmony Johnson set up the offense with 35 assists. The Rams' rookie added eight digs, two blocks and two kills to her stat line. 
• Dakhensey Marcellus anchored the defense with 24 digs and added eight assists to the offense.  

NOTEWORTHY

• The win marks Suffolk's 16th of the season, which ties the third-most wins in a single season in program that was last reached in 2013 (16-14) history behind the all-time winningest time 1997 (18-3) and runner-up 2003 (17-12). 
• The Rams snapped a two-match skid against UMass Dartmouth to move to 4-11 all-time against the Corsairs dating back to 2003. 
• The victory was Suffolk's first over Dartmouth since 2013. 
• Suffolk and Dartmouth went into five sets for the third time and second straight meeting. The Rams defeated the Corsairs by a 3-2 decision for the first time in the all-time series. 
• The Rams and Corsairs met for the first time with Blanchard on the bench.
• Fabiano produced her 12th collegiate double-double, fourth of the season. 
• Barbera provided her eighth collegiate double-double, third of the season. 
• Martin tallied a personal-best in blocks with three.  

POST-MATCH PIC
  

COMING UP
Suffolk concludes the non-conference tri-match tonight against Keene State.