Sixteen-game win streak and third place finish in the Little East Conference highlight Corsairs' 2001 season

(Dartmouth, MA) -- Second-year volleyball coach Kristy Tripp picked up right where she left off after a successful rookie season a year ago, leading UMass Dartmouth to a 24-8 overall record and another berth in the Little East Conference Tournament.

Since taking over the Corsairs' volleyball program prior to the 2000 season, Tripp's Corsairs have a combined record of 49-18 in two seasons and a .731 winning percentage. In both campaigns, the Corsairs have finished third in the LEC regular season and twice UMass Dartmouth has reached the LEC Tournament semi-finals before being eliminated.

After a slow start to the season, the Corsairs caught fire and ran off 16 consecutive victories before finishing the regular season with a 23-7 overall record and a third-place record of 3-2 in the LEC. Included among the 16-game win streak was a pair of team championships at invitational tournaments hosted by Rhode Island College and the Corsairs' own UMass Dartmouth Invitational. At the RIC Invitational held Sept. 28-29, the Corsairs posted a perfect 4-0 record to capture the tournament crown. Leading the Corsairs to the championship were a pair of All-Tournament selections, senior captain Carla Ferreira (Marion, MA), who was also the Tournament MVP and junior outside hitter/setter Doris Nasrallah (Fall River, MA).

Two weeks later in front of the home crowd at the Tripp Athletic Center, the Corsairs dominated the field at the UMass Dartmouth invitational. The Corsairs swept all four tournament matches in straight sets, defeating Worcester State College for the championship. Ferreira was named the tournament Most Valuable Player, while teammate Jen Hart (Westboro, MA), a junior outside hitter, was also named to the All-Tournament team. In the final week of the regular season, the Corsairs posted a 2-1 mark in the Bridgewater State Invitational as Nasrallah was named to the All-Tournament team.

In the LEC Tournament, the third-seeded Corsairs had an easy time with sixth-seeded Rhode Island College, taking a 3-0 decision over the Anchorwomen to advance to the semi-finals. The Corsairs closed out their season with a 3-2 loss to second-seeded Eastern Connecticut State University. UMass Dartmouth got off to a great start in the semi-finals by taking the first two sets of the match. The Corsairs were 30-22 winners in the opening set and improved its lead to 2-0 with a 30-27 victory in the second set. But Eastern Connecticut came roaring back with a 30-18 win in the third set before tying the match with a 34-32 win in the fourth set. In the fifth and deciding set, Eastern Connecticut edged UMass Dartmouth, 16-14, to end the Corsairs' season. UMass Dartmouth had taken a 13-9 advantage before Eastern Connecticut stormed back to tie the score, 14-14, setting the stage for the Warriors to win the match by scoring the final two points of the set

At the end of the season, Jen Hart was the Corsairs' representative of the 2001 LEC Volleyball All-Star team, earning Second Team honors at her outside hitter position.