UMass Dartmouth volleyball beats Keene State in five sets, plays UMass Boston for Little East title
Women's volleyball, Little East semifinal: Olivia Seutter put down her 1,000th career kill and the last two kills of the fifth set as the Corsairs reached the league final for the fourth straight season.
DARTMOUTH Down 11-9 in the fifth set Thursday night, UMass Dartmouth won six of the last seven points, the final three on two Olivia Seutter kills and a block by Norah Schweitzer and Maddie Carter.
Second-seeded UMass Dartmouth beat No. 3 Keene State 3-2 (25-23, 25-20, 21-25, 21-25, 15-12) in the Little East Conference women's volleyball semifinals at the Tripp Athletic Center in Dartmouth, the official box score shows. The Corsairs (16-7) play top-seeded UMass Boston for the conference championship at noon Saturday, Nov. 14, at the Clark Athletic Center in Boston, both schools' schedules show, and UMass Dartmouth Athletics said in its recap that it is the program's fourth straight trip to the Little East final.
Seutter, a 6-foot-2 junior opposite from Mesa, Ariz., finished with 16 kills, two aces, a block assist and three digs, and one of those kills was the 1,000th of her career, according to the school's recap. UMass Boston Athletics, in its preview of the final, lists her as the Corsairs' kills leader with 282 on the season. Coach Justin Turco's team hit .205 to Keene State's .178 and outkilled the Owls 58-51 before a crowd of 275.
How the fifth set turned
The Owls took a 7-5 lead in the deciding set before kills from freshman Norah Schweitzer and senior captain Allison Pate tied it. Keene State went back in front 11-9, and Seutter, Schweitzer and Seutter again put down three straight kills to give UMass Dartmouth a 12-11 lead, the play-by-play shows.
Sarah Bartels tied it 12-12 for Keene State, Seutter answered with two kills in a row, and on match point Schweitzer and Carter blocked a Bartels swing, a play the box score records as a Keene State attack error. The Corsairs had 12 kills and three errors on 24 swings in the fifth set, a .375 hitting rate and their best of the night.
The first four sets
UMass Dartmouth led 20-17 in the opener on a Schweitzer kill, Aiya Dottin's kill pulled Keene State within 22-21, and two straight aces by Alexis Small put the Owls in front 23-22 before a Seutter kill and two Keene State errors gave the Corsairs the set.
Keene State led the second set 15-13 after a Bella Bacon kill, and the Corsairs took four straight points, one of them an ace by senior setter Skye Peters, to go up 17-15. Two kills in a row by senior middle blocker Maddie Carter and an ace by Seutter made it 24-19, and Carter finished the set with a kill.
The Owls took the next two sets 25-21 and 25-21 to force a fifth set, the second time the teams went the distance this fall, after UMass Dartmouth also beat Keene State 3-2 at home on Oct. 2.
Who did what
Pate, a senior outside hitter and captain from Sebring, Fla., had 14 kills, a match-high 21 digs and six aces, tied with Keene State's Alexis Small for the most in the match. The UMass Boston preview lists her season totals at 267 kills and 300 digs.
Peters, the other senior captain, a setter from Albuquerque, N.M., ran the offense with 45 assists and added three aces, three kills, a solo block, a block assist and seven digs. The preview lists her as the team leader with 773 assists and notes she has been named the Little East Setter of the Week eight times this fall.
Schweitzer, a freshman outside hitter from Westford who played at Westford Academy, finished with 11 kills, two block assists and seven digs, and Carter, a senior from Beverly, had 10 kills, a solo block and four block assists. Freshman defensive specialist Brooke Harrington of Walpole had 15 digs and an ace.
Senior middle blocker Ella Soutter of Marion, an Old Rochester Regional graduate, played all five sets and had four kills, an ace, a solo block and three digs. Freshman defensive specialist Mya Matos of Lakeland, Fla., added five digs and an assist, and sophomore outside hitter Ashley Serverius of Apollo Beach, Fla., had four digs.
Keene State, which finishes 17-10, got 18 kills on .378 hitting from Bartels, and Dottin had a hand in 10 blocks, two of them solo and eight assisted. The Owls outblocked the Corsairs 15-7 and served 16 aces to UMass Dartmouth's 14.
What comes next
UMass Boston beat the Corsairs 3-1 on Oct. 21 at the Clark Athletic Center, the only meeting between the teams on UMass Dartmouth's schedule this fall, and UMass Dartmouth leads the all-time series 28-19, according to UMass Boston Athletics. The Beacons went 7-1 in Little East regular-season play and reached the final with a 3-1 semifinal win over No. 4 Plymouth State on Thursday, their preview said.
Mya Perron of Beverly leads UMass Boston with 303 kills and libero Ashlee Wudi has 396 digs, according to the preview. The winner takes the Little East title, and UMass Boston's schedule lists a FloSports video stream and live statistics for Saturday's noon final.
Label: Reported by us, from the town's posted records.
Notes
Every score, set score, point sequence and player statistic is from the official box score and play-by-play UMass Dartmouth Athletics posted for the Nov. 12 match, and the seeds, records, the 1,000th career kill and the details of Saturday's final are from the school's recap of the match and both schools' posted schedules. Season totals, the series record and the UMass Boston details are from UMass Boston Athletics' preview of the final, and positions, classes, hometowns and the coach are from the Corsairs' roster page, all read Friday, Nov. 13, 2026. We checked each date and weekday against a calendar.
Corrections
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Sources (6)
- UMass Dartmouth Athletics: Keene State vs. UMass Dartmouth volleyball box score, Nov. 12, 2026Set scores 23-25, 20-25, 25-21, 25-21, 12-15; set by set hitting; team totals (kills 58-51, hitting .205-.178, aces 14-16, blocks 7-15); every player line for both teams; play-by-play of every set; 7:05 p.m. start, Tripp Athletic Center, attendance 275. Read Nov. 13, 2026.
- UMass Dartmouth Athletics: Volleyball Advances to 4th Straight LEC Championship GameFourth straight LEC final; seeds; 16-7 record; Keene State finishes 17-10; final Saturday at noon at top-seeded UMass Boston's Clark Athletic Center; Seutter's 1,000th career kill; the run of play in each set. Posted Nov. 12, 2026. Read Nov. 13, 2026.
- UMass Dartmouth Athletics: 2026 women's volleyball schedule3-2 win over Keene State Oct. 2; 1-3 loss at UMass Boston Oct. 21 (box score: Clark Athletic Center); Little East semifinal Nov. 12; Little East Championship at No. 1 UMass Boston, Nov. 14, noon. Read Nov. 13, 2026.
- UMass Dartmouth Athletics: 2026 women's volleyball rosterPositions, classes, heights, hometowns and high schools (Seutter, Mesa, Ariz.; Pate, Sebring, Fla.; Peters, Albuquerque, N.M.; Carter, Beverly; Schweitzer, Westford, Westford Academy; Harrington, Walpole; Soutter, Marion, Old Rochester Regional; Matos, Lakeland, Fla.; Serverius, Apollo Beach, Fla.); head coach Justin Turco. Read Nov. 13, 2026.
- UMass Boston Athletics: 2026 women's volleyball scheduleLittle East Championship vs. No. 2 UMass Dartmouth, Saturday, Nov. 14, 12 p.m., Clark Athletic Center Gymnasium, Boston, with Watch (FloSports) and Live Stats links. Read Nov. 13, 2026.
- UMass Boston Athletics: Beacons to Host No. 2 UMass Dartmouth in Little East Conference Championship On SaturdayFinal at 12 p.m. Nov. 14 at the Clark Athletic Center Gymnasium; Beacons 7-1 in LEC regular season, 3-1 semifinal win over No. 4 Plymouth State; season totals for Seutter (282 kills), Peters (773 assists, eight LEC Setter of the Week honors), Pate (267 kills, 300 digs), Perron (303 kills), Wudi (396 digs); UMass Dartmouth leads the series 28-19. Read Nov. 13, 2026.