Patchogue, N.Y. – The Mount Saint Mary College Women's Volleyball team closed the regular season with a pair of conference wins on Saturday afternoon, securing the third seed and a first round home match in the upcoming Skyline Conference Tournament. The Knights topped Farmingdale State in four sets by scores of 28-26, 25-12, 14-25, 26-14 before outlasting St. Joseph's-L.I. in five sets 35-33, 17-25, 22-25, 25-20, 15-13.
 
Senior Jennifer Gries (Hicksville, N.Y.) rounded out the first match of the day with 13 digs, including one that set a new career standard in the category at Mount Saint Mary. With her tenth dig, coming in the third set against the Rams, Gries moved into sole possession of the record with her 1,465^th dig  
 
In the opener against Farmingdale State, the Knights used a three point run late in the first set to pull in front 25-24 after a pair of Farmingdale State miscues. With the score later tied at 26-26, back-to-back kills from Angelia Cirigliano (Newburgh, N.Y.) and Megan Williams (Glenmont, N.Y.) gave the Mount a one set advantage.
 
Mount Saint Mary jumped in front 2-0 with 10 kills in the second set, holding Farmingdale State to a -.083 attack percentage. The Knights used an eight point run in the middle of the frame, keyed by a pair of Rachel Sabatini (Hopewell Junction, N.Y.) kills to take the lead for good in the set and pull in front 19-7.
 
After stumbling in the third frame, the Knights rebounded with 14 kills in the fourth frame to claim an important conference victory. Mount Saint Mary used a 4-0 run to move in front 15-13 and closed the frame scoring six of the final seven points. Cirigliano sparked the closing stretch with a pair of kills.
 
Cirigliano paced Mount Saint Mary with 10 kills in the win and a pair of digs. Williams rounded out the match with nine winners and four total blocks, while Sabatini finished off the contest with nine kills and six digs.
 
Senior Kayla Kurka (Islip, N.Y.) continued her efficient play by hitting .412 against the Rams with seven kills to go along with three block assists. Kristen Maddock (Medford, N.Y.) handed out 17 assists and lifted eight digs, with Kimberly Gries (Hicksville, N.Y.) finishing with 14 assists.
 
Maddock and Kaitlyn O'Brien (Staten Island, N.Y.) each rounded out the match with a pair of service aces.
 
Farmingdale State was led by a match-high 11 kills from Christina Hickey who also added six aces and four digs. Megan Pisciotta closed the contest with a match-high 21 assists and Annie Cosgrove led all players with 16 digs.
 
For the match, Mount Saint Mary held the advantage in kills 44-38, while the Rams took the edge in service aces 11-6. The Knights won the blocking battle by a slim 7-5 margin.
 
In the second match of the day, the Knights had to work overtime again in the first set to gain the early advantage. Trailing 33-32 in the opener, the Mount ripped off three straight points, including a pair of service aces from Cirigliano to close out the marathon opening set.
 
The Knights fell behind 2-1 in the match after dropping the next two frames, before rebounding in the fourth to knot the contest at 2-2. Both teams put away nine kills in the fourth set, with the Knights breaking a 20-20 tie with the final five points of the stanza to pull even. Two service aces from Maddock and a pair of kills from Williams sparked the run for the Mount.
 
In the deciding fifth set, Mount Saint Mary scored three of the final four points of the frame to rally for the victory. Elizabeth Lavin (Hicksville, N.Y.) put away two kills late in the set to push the Knights to the five set win.
 
Freshman Jennifer Hanley (Sayville, N.Y.) finished the match with a career-high 12 kills to go along with four block assists. Williams added 11 winners for Mount Saint Mary, adding three digs and five total blocks. Kurka chipped in with nine kills for the Knights and six block assists.
 
Maddock led the team with 33 assists against the Golden Eagles, finishing off a strong all-around match with nine digs and five aces. Gries finished off the match with 25 digs, finishing the day with a new career record of 1,493.
 
St. Joseph's was paced by 25 kills from Heather Ferchland who hit .438 in the match. Courtney Wickline handed out a match-high 55 assists with Jenna Beckmann leading the way with 27 digs.
 
For the match, St. Joseph's held a 61-49 advantage in kills, while the Knights took a 16-13 edge in service aces and a 10-5 edge in total team blocks.
 
Saturday's sweep closes the regular season for Mount Saint Mary with a 15-18 overall record and an 8-2 mark in conference play. The Knights will host Maritime on Tuesday in the Opening Round of the conference tournament with a time to be announced. 

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