Newburgh, N.Y. – The Mount Saint Mary College Women's Volleyball team split a pair of Skyline Conference matches on Saturday, sweeping Purchase 25-9, 25-10, 25-16 before dropping a hard fought five set decision to Sage by scores of 17-25, 25-22, 25-21, 17-25, 9-15. Senior Jennifer Gries (Hicksville, N.Y.) finished the Sage contest with 39 digs for the Knights.
 
Mount Saint Mary dominated Purchase to open the day, allowing just 10 kills to the Panthers. Mount Saint Mary hit .308 in the contest, including a .375 effort in the second set and a .370 showing, including 12 kills, in the third frame.
 
Sophomore Jacquelyn Survilla (West Islip, N.Y.) led the Mount's offensive attack against Purchase with five kills, adding a service ace and a pair of digs in the win. Maribeth Powers (Yorktown, N.Y.) finished the victory with four kills for the Knights.
 
Junior Kristen Maddock (Medford, N.Y.) posted eight service aces in the win to go along with eight assists with Gries adding four aces and a dig for the Knights.
 
Overall for the match, Mount Saint Mary held a 31-10 advantage in kills and a commanding 22-2 edge in service aces. The victory marked the second time in 2015 that Mount Saint Mary has posted at least 20 assists in a match.
 
After dropping the opening set of the second match of the day, the Knights battled back to take a 2-1 advantage over visiting Sage. Mount Saint Mary forced Sage into a -.171 attack percentage in the second frame on Saturday and took a one set advantage after recording 14 kills in the third stanza. Jennifer Hanley (Sayville, N.Y.) and senior Kayla Kurka (Islip, N.Y.) each posted four kills in the third set for the Knights.
 
Sage took advantage of 10 Mount Saint Mary attack errors in the fourth frame to even the match at 2-2. Sara Campolieta hit .714 in the fourth set for the Gators, registering five kills in seven attempts without committing a miscue.
 
The Knights scored the first point of the deciding set on Saturday, but saw Sage rip off the next four points, including a pair of kills from Alyssa Nellis, to take the lead for good in the frame. The Mount used a 5-0 spurt late in the set to pull to within three points, but a pair of Mount Saint Mary miscues sparked the Gators to the five set victory.
 
Mount Saint Mary's offensive charge was led by a season-high 12 kills from sophomore Megan Williams (Glenmont, N.Y.). Williams rounded out a strong all-around match with a pair of digs and three total blocks for the Knights.
 
Gries lifted a season-high 39 digs in the five set thriller, eclipsing her previous season-high by a single dig. She added a pair of aces for the Knights against the Gators. Senior Kaitlyn O'Brien (Staten Island, N.Y.) finished with three aces and 12 digs, while junior Rachel Sabatini (Hopewell Junction, N.Y.) lifted 12 digs and added six kills.
 
Kurka put away eight kills for the Knights, adding a pair of digs and two aces. Freshman Kimberly Gries (Hicksville, N.Y.) closed a double-double effort with 22 assists and 10 digs. Maddock chipped in with 14 helpers for the Mount.
 
Sage was led by a match-high 14 kills from Michayla Berard and received 12 winners from Campolieta. Rachel Liebig handed out a match-high 38 assists with Siena Wilder leading three in double-figures in digs with a team-high 38.
 
For the match, Sage held a slim 45-41 advantage in kills, while the Knights took an 11-3 advantage in service aces. Total team blocks in the match went the way of the Gators, 11-6.
 
Following Saturday's split, Mount Saint Mary stands at 9-17 overall on the season and at 3-1 in Skyline Conference play. The Knights will return to the court on Tuesday for a non-conference road match at Rutgers-Newark. Match time is scheduled for 7:00 p.m.

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