BOSTON, Mass. -- The second-seeded University of Massachusetts Boston women's volleyball team recovered from a 2-to-1 deficit in sets for the second straight Little East Conference tournament match and because of that, the Beacons won their tenth tournament title in 12 years with a five-set decision over fifth-seeded Eastern Connecticut State University in the 2021 LEC championship match Saturday afternoon at the Clark Athletic Center.
 

Set scores were 25-17, 20-25, 25-20, 28-30, 12-15.
 

Coming off a four-set decision at top-seeded Plymouth State University in Thursday's semifinal, Eastern (18-8) led from start to finish in the third set to move to within a set of winning its eighth LEC title before the Beacons survived an overtime decision in the fourth set that included 24 ties and lead changes to set up a final fifth-set showdown.
 

Having won all four of its previous five-set decisions this year, UMass Boston (14-12) made it 5-for-5. In that fifth set, Eastern led by three points twice, the final time at 7-4. A UMB kill, two service aces by Mckayla Geraghty and an Eastern attack error  allowed the Beacons to take their first lead since 1-0. UMB broke the sixth and final tie by scoring the final three points on kills from Marcelle Tiscareno and Taryn Broughal and an Eastern attack error.
 

In UMB's key fourth-set victory that set up the final, Emilia Czapiewska had eight kills, Carsen Komminsk set for 18 assists and Ally Dean nine digs.
 

For Eastern in the match, senior middle Anna Barry (Andover) led both teams with 20 kills and attacked at .567 but the rest of the team attacked at .146. Senior Abby Stern (Manchester) followed Barry with 16 kills and had 16 digs, senior Meg Verizzi (Lebanon) had 41 assists and junior Nayeli Cruz Martinez (Toa Baja, P.R.) 26 digs. In the match, Verizzi became the sixth player in Eastern history to record as many as 1,000 assists in a season. She finished her career with 1,510 -- the ninth most in program history.
 

Since losing three straight in early October, UMB has won eight of nine heading into the NCAA Division III tournament.