Staten Island, N.Y. – Senior
Rachel Sabatini (Hopewell Junction, N.Y.) reached double figures in kills for the sixth time this season as the Mount Saint Mary College Women's Volleyball team won for the seventh time in its last eight matches with a 25-15, 25-22, 25-18 road non-conference win at Staten Island Wednesday night.
The Knights used a five point run to open a 19-11 lead in the opening stanza on Wednesday and then had to rally from an 11-6 deficit in the second frame to open a two set advantage. In the second set, the Mount used a 5-0 run capped by a Sabatini kill to open a 14-13 lead and closed the set scoring seven of the final eight points to move in front by two frames in the match.
The Mount used a 7-2 run to overcome an 8-7 deficit and put the match away with a 7-1 spurt that opened a 21-12 lead in the final set. Staten Island would claw back to within 23-18 late in third, but a
Kim Gries (Hicksville, N.Y.) kill and a Staten Island miscued sent the Knights to their ninth victory of the year.
Sabatini led all players with 17 kills on the night and hit a blistering .571, committing just two errors in 29 attacks. She finished off a double-double effort with a team-high 10 digs. She closed out a strong all-around match with a pair of service aces for the Mount.
Ally Klesin (Glendale, N.Y.),
Megan Williams (Glenmont, N.Y.) and
Morgan Burke (Ringwood, N.J.) all rounded out the match with five kills for the Knights, with Burke hitting .364 on the night. Williams and Burke each added a pair of total blocks, while Gries led the team with 16 assists and three service aces.
Staten Island was led by six kills each from Siobhan Granich and Skenderjie Mila. Victoria Wong paced all players with 20 digs and Jessica Cafiero led the Dolphins with 11 assists.
Overall, Mount Saint Mary finished the night with a 40-18 advantage in kills and a slim 11-10 edge in service aces. The Knights finished the evening with a 3-0 lead in total team blocks.
Wednesday win pushes Mount Saint Mary to 9-13 overall on the season. The Knights will be off until October 13 when they travel to SUNY Delhi. Match time with the Broncos is scheduled 7:00 p.m.
