NEWBURGH, N.Y. – The Mount Saint Mary College women's volleyball team (9-14) hosted a tri-match with Brooklyn College (6-15) and William Paterson University (14-2) Saturday afternoon at the Kaplan Center. The Knights swept Brooklyn, 3-0 (25-21, 25-18, 25-15), before dropping a thrilling five-set match to William Paterson, 3-2 (23-25, 25-12, 21-25, 25-21, 15-12).
Sophomore outside hitter
Rachel Sabatini (Hopewell Junction, N.Y.) had one of the best matches of her career against Brooklyn, leading the Knights with an outstanding 16 kills and a .448 hitting percentage in three sets. Freshman middle blocker
Megan Williams (Glenmont, N.Y.) also set a career-high with eight kills in the match. Sophomore setters
Kristen Maddock (Medford, N.Y.) and
Claire Scully (Bloomfield, N.J.) dished out 17 and 13 assists, respectively, while splitting time in the match. Freshman libero
Chelsea Barberan (Fishkill, N.Y.) picked up 20 digs.
Brooklyn was led by Francesca LoCascio's seven kills and .350 hitting percentage in Saturday's early match. Crystal Wu had a match-high 18 assists, and LoCascio added 11 digs.
William Paterson defeated Brooklyn College, 3-0, in the second match of the day.
The Knights and Pioneers went back and forth in the final match of the day. The Knights picked up a close first set, 25-23, but then dropped a quick second set to the Pioneers, 25-12. The Knights bounced back with a 25-21 victory, but William Paterson returned the favor with a 25-21 win right back. A tight fifth set saw three lead changes and four tie scores, but the Pioneers got the better of the Knights down the stretch to get the 15-12 decision and take the match.
Sabatini shined again for the Knights, this time throwing down 17 kills. Junior outside hitter
Kayla Kurka (Islip, N.Y.) added 10 of her own. Scully and Maddock split time at setter once again, with Scully handing out 20 assists and Maddock passing out 19. Barberan had a wonderful defensive match, picking up 27 digs, many of which in impressive fashion.
William Paterson's Shauna VanDeRee matched Sabatini with 17 kills in the Pioneers' victory. Alaina Clark picked up an impressive 42 assists, while six different Pioneers finished with double-digit digs in the match.
Despite the split, the Knights picked up plenty of momentum on Saturday to carry into the later part of the season. The Knights next play on Tuesday, Oct. 7, when they travel to Brooklyn, N.Y. for a non-conference match at Medgar Evers College. The match is set to begin at 7 p.m.
Follow the Knights on Twitter at
@MSMCKnights
