Coach Rick Quintin's volleyball team is heading into the final week of its season with a chance to finish with a .500 record. During the preseason, Quintin predicted that the Corsairs, coming off an 0-25 season, had a good chance to finish with a .500 record. Twenty-seven matches into his first season, Quintin is two victories away from reaching his goal.

With two victories in three matches last week, UMass Dartmouth improved its record to 13-14 with three matches remaining. The Corsairs travel to Framingham State on Nov. 4 for a match with the Rams, a team they swept in straight sets earlier in the season. The Corsairs' season closes on November 8 with a dual meet against both Eastern Nazarene College and Assumption College.

After dropping a straight-set match to Clark University on Oct. 28, the Corsairs put together back-to-back victories over Roger Williams University (3-0) and Keene State College (3-0) last week. In the loss to Clark University, Karyn Ferreira (Marion, MA) had seven blocks and the Corsairs had 22 teams kills and 68 team digs, but it wasn't enough. The Corsairs dropped the three straight sets, 15-11, 15-7 and 15-11.

Two nights later, the Corsairs got back on track, sparked by Heather Louro's (Dartmouth, MA) 35 assists. Amy Wilson (Dartmouth, MA) added 11 kills and Ferreira had eight kills and five blocks to go along with another solid defensive game from Alicia Pegg (Westport, MA). UMass Dartmouth swept RWU, 15-9, 15-13 and 15-12.

In their final home game at the Tripp Center last Saturday, the Corsairs had little trouble with the Owls. UMass Dartmouth breezed to a 15-3, 15-4, 15-11 victory led by Amy Wilson's 10 kills and 12 digs. Cindy Brehaut (Dartmouth, MA) had 14 digs and five kills as the Corsairs had 46 digs and 26 kills.

Only a driving rain storm could slow down the Corsairs' high-powered offense in a 26-7 New England Football Conference (NEFC) victory over Framingham State College last Saturday. Coach Bill Kavanaugh's Corsairs entered the game ranked #5 in the ECAC Division III New England poll and did nothing but help their standing with their performance over the Rams.

Playing in bad weather for a second straight week, the Corsairs cruised to their sixth straight victory for a 7-1 overall record and a 5-1 mark. UMass Dartmouth is tied for second place in the NEFC with Bridgewater State and a half-game back of league-leading Worcester State. The Lancers beat Bridgewater State, 23-6, last Saturday to improve their record to 6-1 and dropped the Bears to 5-1 in the NEFC.

There has been a different offensive hero for UMass Dartmouth almost every week and the Framingham State game was no different. Mike Masse (Wareham, MA) sparked the Corsairs' offense with a pair of short touchdown runs along with 96 yards rushing on 26 carries. Jay Furtado (Swansea, MA) scored a touchdown and connected on seven of 11 passes for 91 yards and Ryan Bland (Dartmouth, MA) caught a seven-yard TD pass from Matt McLauglhin (Mansfield, MA).

Furtado got the Corsairs on the scoreboard first with a one-yard touchdown run, five minutes into the first quarter. Eric Lundell (Mansfield, MA) added the extra point for a 7-0 lead. UMass Dartmouth made it 13-0 at halftime when Masse scored the first of his two TDs with 1:32 left in the half. Masse scored again late in the third quarter on a 10-yard scoring run for a 20-0 lead. The Rams finally broke the Corsairs' shutout with 10 minutes to play but the Corsairs came back five minutes later with a seven-yard TD pass from McLaughlin to Bland for the 26-7 final.

UMass Dartmouth's defense came up with three turnovers on the day, all of them leading to Corsair scores. John Lydon (Weymouth, MA) had a pair of interceptions, while Dave Spiriti (Everett, MA) recovered a Ram fumble.

The Corsairs will try to extend their winning streak to seven and grab a share of the NEFC lead on November 7 when they travel to Westfield State College for a 7 p.m. game. A victory over the Owls would give the Corsairs a chance to clinch a share of the NEFC championship when they host Bridgewater State on November 15.

Maura McDonald's (Greenfield, MA) 10th place overall finish was UMass Dartmouth's top performance as the Corsairs finished third in the Little East Conference championships held at UMass Dartmouth last Saturday. Coach Jon Hird's Corsairs, the defending LEC champions, also placed fourth in the first New England Alliance race, which combined teams from the LEC and the Massachusetts State College Athletic Conference (MASCAC) into one race.

While McDonald was posting an overall finish of 10th (eighth in the LEC race), the Corsairs also received strong performances from Jackie Gorski (Warwick, MA), Karla Jarquin (Shrewsbury, MA), Tara Carson (Beverly, MA) and Laura Caselden (Westfield, MA). Gorski was the Corsairs' second runner to cross the finish line in 20:06, with Jarquin 13 seconds back in 20:19. Carson finished 20:23 and Caselden was 30th overall with a time of 21:29.

With its top four runners finishing first through fourth, Southern Maine captured both the New England Alliance race and the LEC championship. Keene State was second in both events with Westfield State, the winner of the MASCAC race, finishing third in the New England Alliance.

In their final game of the season, the Corsairs dropped a heart-breaking 1-0 loss to Stonehill College in sudden death. With the game scoreless at the end of regulation, Stonehill College scored an unassisted goal at 12:31 of the sudden death for the 1-0 final score.

The loss overshadowed an outstanding performance in goal by UMass Dartmouth's Paula Malcom (Milford, MA). The Corsairs' goalie was credited with 18 saves as Stonehill College outshot UMass Dartmouth, 24-8. The loss left Coach Marilyn Ritz's Corsairs at 9-9 on the season.

Coach Alex Silva's Corsairs closed out the 1997-98 season with a 2-0 Little East Conference loss to first-place Western Connecticut State University. Jennifer Nelson (Medford, MA) made six saves in a losing effort, allowing a pair of second-half goals to the Colonials. UMass Dartmouth finished with a 2-5 mark in the LEC and a 4-13 overall record.

Western Connecticut State University knocked off the Corsairs, 3-0 in UMass Dartmouth's only game last week. Coach Niall O'Donnell's squad will close out its season with a home game against nationally-ranked Wheaton College on November 5. Rob Moles (Taunton, MA) turned away eight shots by the Colonials in the losing effort which dropped the Corsairs' LEC record to 0-6-1 and 4-10-2 overall.

Although the Corsairs did not have enough runners to field a team in last weekend's New England Alliance race, UMass Dartmouth's Gary Mello (Woburn, MA) made his presence known. Mello finished third overall in the New England Alliance race with a time of 25:18. Also competing in the race from UMass Dartmouth were Pierre Reyne (Fontbellon, France), who finished 28th overall with a time of 27:44, along with Jeff Reed (Westport, MA) (49th, 28:34) and Patrick Gallagher (Fairhaven, MA) (61st, 29:29).

Hosted by UMass Dartmouth, the New England Alliance championship and the Little East Conference championship was captured by Keene State College. Bridgewater State College was the MASCAC team winner.

The Corsairs' women's tennis team had its final match of the season against Salve Regina postponed. Coach Warren Preti's team finished the season with an 11-2 record and its second consecutive Little East Conference championship......The UMass Dartmouth Cheerleaders will hold tryouts for the upcoming basketball season on November 10, 12 and 13. The tryouts will take place at 8:00 p.m. in Gym C of the Tripp Athletic Center. For more information contact Lisa Cabral at (508) 763-3546 or visit the UMass Dartmouth cheerleaders' website at http://www.umassd.edu/sports/cheerleading/main.cfm.