Women's Volleyball Falls 3-1 at UMass Boston

THE BASICS 
Salem State, 1 at UMass Boston, 3 (25-14, 21-25, 25-17, 25-9)

Records: 
UMass Boston Beacons (1-4)
Salem State University Vikings (1-1)

Location: Boston, Mass. - Clark Athletic Center Gymnasium

Date: Friday, September 5, 2025

THE LEAD— Despite taking the second set against UMass Boston, the Salem State University Women's Volleyball team fell to UMass Boston, 3-1 Friday afternoon at the UMass Boston Volleyball Tournament.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• After each side exchanged a point in the opening set, the Vikings jumped out to a 5-2 lead behind a 4-1 stretch led by two aces from Sabina Kamanda (Dracut, Mass.). However, UMass Boston responded and evened things back at five, scoring three-straight points. But Salem State retook the lead and went up two (7-5) thanks to two UMass Boston errors.
• Later in the set, UMass Boston tied things again (7-7) and after the Vikings found themselves down one (9-8) after a Presley Shairs (Salem, Mass.) kill, the Beacons grabbed their largest lead of the set thanks to a 14-5 run that made it 23-15. During the UMass Boston offensive surge, Lauren Westlund and Addie Blomgren led the way with two kills apiece. From then on, the hosts closed out the set scoring two of the next three points for a 25-14 win in set one.
• In the second set, UMass Boston started fast after the hosts scored the first six points of the set. Despite the quick start, Salem responded and took its first lead of the frame (7-6) behind a 7-0 run highlighted by two Kailey Roche (Billerica, Mass.) service aces. 
• Both sides continued to trade blows throughout the set, and after the Beacons went up 14-12, the Vikings surged ahead with a spurt of offense behind an 11-3 run for their largest lead of the set (23-17). Gianna Mahoney (Revere, Mass.) highlighted the Salem offense with three service aces. Even after UMass Boston pulled within three (24-21), the Blue and Orange closed out the second set by capitalizing on a UMass Boston attack error and evened things at 1-1. 
• Salem's offense continued its momentum into the third set as the squad raced out to an 8-2 lead thanks to multiple UMass Boston errors. However, the Beacons answered and would go ahead by three (11-8) thanks to a 9-0 rally with two kills from Westlund. 
• The Vikings would linger around as the third set continued, and at one point, the Blue and Orange were down one (16-15) after a Celia Carbone (Lynnfield, Mass.) ace. Unfortunately, that was the closest Salem got in the third as UMass Boston closed out the third on a 9-2 run for a 25-17 set victory to go up 2-1.
• In the final set, it was all UMass Boston as the Beacons jumped out to a 10-0 advantage before a Kamanda kill broke up the UMass Boston scoring surge. Even after pulling within eight (14-6), the Beacons were not phased and finished the match on an 11-3 run for the 25-9 set four win. 

INSIDE THE NUMBERS

• Shairs led the Salem offense with a game and season-high 10 kills. 
• Carbone guided the Vikings with 16 assists on Friday afternoon. 
• Kesmyn Alves paced the UMass Boston offense with nine kills. 
• The Beacons saw two student-athletes finish with 10-plus assists in Audrey Cofield and Amelia Devlin, with 13 and 10, respectively. 
• On the defensive end, Roched led the Vikings with 19 digs. Meanwhile, Mahoney was the only other Viking with at least 10 digs when she finished 10 exactly.
• For UMass Boston, the hosts saw three Beacons record 10-plus digs, with Mary Matthews leading the way with 15, followed by Ruby Ackerman with 12, and finally Alves with 10. 
• Salme and UMass Boston have now met 33 times, and the Beacons currently hold the series lead with a 13-20 record against the Vikings. 

UP NEXT

• Salem State is right back at it, competing in the UMass Boston Volleyball Tournament with matches against College of Saint Benedict and Emerson College at 1:30 p.m. and 4:00 p.m., respectively.