Highlights Courtesy of UMass Boston

BOSTON, Mass. –  The Eastern Connecticut State University women's volleyball team stopped a streak of 22 consecutive set losses to the University of Massachusetts Boston, but the Beacons emerged with the all-important third set win by six points and went on to a four-set Little East Conference victory over the Warriors Tuesday night at the Clark Athletic Center.

Ranked in a tie for third in New England, UMass (18-7, 5-0 Little East) won by scores of 25-19, 23-25, 25-19, 25-13 in defeating Eastern (12-13, 3-2 Little East) for the eighth straight year and handing the Warriors their fourth loss in the last five outings.

After the Warriors scored the first five points and held on for a two-point victory in the second set, the Beacons – five-time defending conference champions -- scored four consecutive points on a kill, service ace and consecutive Eastern attack errors to wipe out Eastern's last lead and move out to a 17-14 lead on the way to the third-set victory.

Eastern attacked at only .062  in the match and was guilty of 15 reception errors (twice as many as its season average), while the hosts attacked at .205 and recorded 13 blocks.

Sophomore outside hitter Adrianna Mihalek (Woodbury) had one-third of Eastern's kills, leading both teams with 12 and both clubs with six  (of the team's seven) service aces.  Junior libero Allie Luppi (Tewksbury, MA) was the match leader with 18 digs. Senior Allie Henry (Middletown) topped Eastern with 25 assists.  First-year sophomore Hannah Bryant (Avon) and 6-foot-1 inch sophomore Kay Mullen (Fairhaven, MA) combined for 15 kills, Bryant's total of eight just one shy of her season-best.

Six-foot hitter Julia Murphy – last year's LEC offensive Player-of-the-Year as a freshman -- and junior Blair Boyer combined for 17 kills for UMass Boston, with Murphy, freshman Breana Kemp and sophomore Pepper Baker combining for 12 service aces. Sophomore Elizabeth Glavan, last year's LEC Defensive Player-of-the-Year dug a team-high14 balls, with Murphy adding 12 digs and five blocks.

Saturday, Eastern hosts Plymouth State University in a Little East Conference match at noon and WPI at 4 p.m.