DARTMOUTH, Mass. – The Eastern Connecticut State University women's volleyball team came from two sets down to win a match for the first time this year in a five-set Little East Conference decision over the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth Saturday afternoon, but it wasn't enough to prevent the Warriors from a No. 5 seed and a first-round road match in this coming week's LEC tournament.
 
After attacking at .120 in losing the first two sets, Eastern (16-7, 5-3 LEC) rebounded to attack at .376 in winning the final three sets to post its 48th win over UMass Dartmouth (10-11, 4-4 LEC) in the 51-match history of the series.
 
Set scorers were 14-25, 20-25, 25-19, 25-16, 15-11.
 
Picked to finish first in the regular season in the 2021 LEC pre-season coaches poll, the Warriors ended up in a four-way tie for second with Keene State College, Massachusetts Boston and Western Connecticut and  were relegated to the No. 5 seed in part due to head-to-head losses to Keene State and Western Connecticut. Despite the loss, UMass Dartmouth claimed the sixth and final playoff seed and visits third-seeded Keene State Tuesday.
 
Eastern visits fourth-seeded Western (18-7) in a first-round match Tuesday at 7 p.m., with the survivor visiting unbeaten LEC regular-season champion Plymouth State (23-2, 8-0 LEC) University Thursday in a semifinal match. Ironically, Eastern swept UMass Boston (12-12) Sept. 17 at home in its LEC opener, but the Beacons nabbed the No. 2 seed in the playoffs and a first-round playoff bye.
 
Western downed Eastern in four in the regular-season meeting at Geissler Gymnasium a month ago.
 
Eastern had lost four of five matches this year which went the full five sets, but jumped to a 5-1 lead in the fifth set Saturday against UMass Dartmouth and never trailed. The Warriors broke the third and final tie on successive kills from senior middle Anna Barry (Andover) on sets from senior setter Meg Verizzi (Lebanon) as they scored five of the final six points. Eastern closed it out on a UMD attack error, service ace from senior outside Abby Stern (Manchester) and Barry's fifth and final kill of the set.
 
In five sets, Barry led all players with 20 kills to move to within 34 kills of 1,000 in her career  and by attacking at .500, improved her season mark .370 and kept her career percentage at .369 (third all-time).
 
With Eastern down two-sets-to-none, Barry collected 15 kills on 19 attempts without an error in the final three sets to pace the comeback.  Eastern led the entire way in the next two sets and never trailed in the fifth.
 
The Warriors scored the first four points in the third set and the first three in the fourth set. Eastern remained alive by winning the third set behind Barry (six kills, no errors) and Stern (four kills, one error), five digs and two service aces from junior libero Paula Pérez (Caguas, P.R.). In the fourth set, Barry had four more kills and Stern and senior outside Alaetra Long (Lincoln, NE) added three each and Stern, Perez and Long each had five digs.
 
Stern (13) and Long (11) followed Barry with double-digit kills in the match, with Verizzi setting for 47 assists. Perez led all players with 27 digs, Stern following with 19, Long adding 16 and Verizzi 12. Junior Nayeli Cruz Martinez (Toa Baja, P.R.) and first-year player Cassie Parmelee (East Berlin) each contributed six of the team's ten service aces.