BRISTOL, R.I. – In a battle between two top New England teams, the University of Massachusetts-Boston came through with a 3-0 win over the Roger Williams University Women's Volleyball team, taking the match 25-23, 25-15, 28-26 on the Hawks' Dig Pink night in front of a raucous crowd decked in pink attire.

In the first game, the Hawks scored the first three points of the match before a 10-3 run by the Beacons put UMass-Boston on top 10-6. The Hawks would slowly climb their way back into the match, eventually taking a 15-13 lead. The two-point advantage would become a trend for the remainder of the set, as neither team would hold a lead larger than two over the rest of the game. RWU's last lead came at 19-18, before a 7-4 run capped off by a Molly Rattigan (Dorchester, Mass.) kill gave the Beacons a 25-23 win.

The second game opened with offensive struggles for both teams, with the two squads combining for 11 attack errors, two services aces, and a serve error over the first 18 points of the game. Neither team would gain an advantage by that point, with the score tied at nine apiece. UMass-Boston would slowly build its lead, eventually going up 16-13, with miscommunication on the Hawks' side on the following consecutive plays leading to a pair of Beacon points and a Hawk timeout. Yet RWU's struggles continued, as the Beacons scored all six of their game-clinching points via attack errors on the RWU, with Shannon Thompson (Moorpark, Calif.) and Alexa Sullivan (South Dennis, Mass.) making the final block to win 25-15.

Game three got off to a peculiar start, as a Rattigan kill for UMass-Boston was followed by four consecutive service errors, two for each team. From there, UMass-Boston began to take control, eventually going up by a 16-11 score. Yet Roger Williams would mount a comeback, using a 10-5 run highlighted by back-to-back kills by Rebekah Dion (Old Saybrook, Conn.) and Marybeth Torpey (Quincy, Mass.) to tie the match at 21, leading to a UMass-Boston timeout. Dion's next kill would give RWU game-point, putting the Hawks up 24-22, but a service error negated the opportunity for the win. The Hawks had one more game point at 25-24, but the Beacons took four of the next six points to hold on for the win.  

Thompson led the Beacons with nine kills to go along with nine digs, two solo blocks and three block assists. Frana Burtness-Adams (Fairbanks, Alaska) had 13 assists  while Cassy Hanneman (Denver, Colo.) had eight of her own. Bethany Rossoll (Colorado Springs, Colo.) finished with 12 digs and Sullivan contributed a pair of kills and a game-high five block assists.

Dion continued her high-percentage hitting for Roger Williams by tallying a game-high 13 kills on 21 swings with only three errors for a .476 clip, in addition to a solo block and three block assists. Emily Lebowitz (Coventry, Conn.) had 24 assists and six digs, with Jill Hurd (Sunapee, N.H.) digging out 18 balls. Torpey, Kelsey Twarog (Barkhamsted, Conn.), and Krystie Luczynski (Kensington, Conn.) combined for 15 kills.

Roger Williams (23-5) hosts the University of New England Wednesday at 7 p.m. on what will serve as Senior Night, while UMass-Boston (22-2) will be at Plymouth State Tuesday at 6:00 p.m.