NEWBURGH, N.Y. – The Mount Saint Mary College women's volleyball team (11-15, 1-1 Skyline) saw its first Skyline Conference action of the season on Saturday, as the Knights hosted Maritime College (6-10, 0-3 Skyline) and St. Joseph's College (L.I.) (12-6, 4-0 Skyline) for a Skyline tri-match on Saturday at the Kaplan Center. The Knights defeated Maritime, 3-0 (25-6, 25-21, 25-15), in the day's opener, but fell to St. Joe's in a thrilling five-set match, 3-2 (19-25, 25-23, 22-25, 25-18, 15-9), to close out the day. The Golden Eagles defeated the Privateers, 3-0 (25-16, 25-15, 25-22) in the second match of the day.
The Knights hit .232 as they took down the Privateers in the morning match. Junior outside hitter
Kayla Kurka (Islip, N.Y.) led the Knights by hitting .538 and throwing down seven kills in the match. Sophomore outside hitter
Rachel Sabatini (Hopewell Junction, N.Y.) matched Kurka with seven kills and also served up three aces. Sophomores
Kristen Maddock (Medford, N.Y.) and
Claire Scully (Bloomfield, N.J.) played evenly at the setter position, with Maddock dishing out 13 assists and Scully picking up 12. Freshman libero
Chelsea Barberan (Fishkill, N.Y.) had a match-high 18 digs.
The Privateers were held to a -.065 hitting percentage by the Knights. Gabrielle Kempski matched Kurka and Sabatini with seven kills to lead the team.
The Knights went back-and-forth in their later match with the defending Skyline champion St. Joe's. The Knights carried the momentum from their first match to pick up a 25-19 victory in the first set, but the match was quickly evened when the Golden Eagles squeaked away with a 25-23 win in game two. The Knights took back control of the match with a 25-22 win in the third frame, but the Golden Eagles came out on top once again in the fourth, 25-18, to send the match to a fifth set. The Knights had a rough time in the final set and hit just .087 to suffer a 15-9 defeat and drop the match.
Heather Ferchland led all scorers with 17 kills in the final match of the day. Julianne Tierney dished out an impressive 40 assists, while adding eight kills and 16 digs.
Sabatini added another 13 kills to her day, while senior middle blocker
Natalie Candarelli (Cortlandt Manor, N.Y.) followed close behind with 12. Scully led the Knights with 26 assists, while Barberan picked up a match-best 25 digs.
The Knights will look to bounce back when they host nearby Bard College on Tuesday, Oct. 14. The match is set to begin at 7 p.m.
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