Box Score DARTMOUTH, Mass. - Senior setter Maggie Ferguson (Southbury, Conn.) handed out a match-high 36 assists and junior outside hitter Julia Stoliker (Red Hook, N.Y.) smashed a team-high 17 kills but the fifth-seeded Western Connecticut State University women's volleyball team suffered a 3-0 (26-24, 25-21, 25-20) loss at top-seeded host UMass Dartmouth in the Little East Conference Championship Tournament semifinals on Thursday evening at Tripp Athletic Center. 

Senior libero Jersey Jones (Middletown, N.Y.) chipped in with a match-high three service aces to go along with a team-high 22 digs, while classmate middle hitter Delia Clouden (Newtown, Conn.) added a match-high four block assists. 

Allison Pate paced the Corsairs with a match-high 20 kills en route to a staggering .419 hitting percentage. Olivia Seutter was nearly as impressive as she notched 16 kills with a .412 mark. Skye Peters set them up with a team-high 31 assists.

Trailing 7-2 early in the opening stanza, WestConn battled back and would eventually capture a set point advantage at 24-22 courtesy of a UMass Dartmouth attack error. But Pate connected on a three-straight shots to the floor before Aleek Kuot notched a kill to complete the opening set rally for the hosts. 

The second stanza was close much of the way but the Wolves seemed to run out of gas near the end and fell 25-20 when Pate belted yet another kill to cement the win. The momentum remained with the Corsairs as they led the majority of the third set en route to advancing to the LEC Championship match on Saturday.

With the loss, WestConn concluded the campaign at 20-7 overall while the Corsairs improved to 21-7. UMD will host the title game on Saturday with the winner earning the automatic berth to the NCAA Tournament.