Albany, N.Y. – The Mount Saint Mary College Women's Volleyball team was eliminated from the 2016 Skyline Conference Championship on Tuesday night following a hard fought 24-26, 21-25, 22-25 straight set loss at fourth seeded Sage. Ally Klesin (Glendale, N.Y.) led the offensive attack with nine kills against the Gators.
 
After falling behind 11-5 in the opening set, the Mount rallied with a five point run to close to within a point on a Klesin winner. The Gators would not surrender the lead in the set, however, until a three point surge from the Knights pushed them in front 23-22. Klesin keyed the spurt with two kills and Kristen Maddock (Medford, N.Y.) posted a service ace.
 
Sage countered with the next two points to regain a one point lead and took advantage of two Mount Saint Mary miscues after the Knights tied the score at 24-24 to take a 1-0 lead in the match.
 
Mount Saint Mary would use a four point run in the middle stages of the second set to jump in front 12-11, but saw the Gators put together a 6-2 stretch to move in front 21-17. The Mount would climb back to within a point twice late in the set, but a Katy Rimawi service ace closed out the frame and gave Sage a two set advantage.
 
The Knights jumped out to a four point lead in the third set following a 7-0 run keyed by a pair of Maddock service aces. The Knights maintained the lead in the set until a 6-0 run from the Gators moved them in front 19-16. Sage would not relinquish the lead the rest of the way and closed out the Knights on a kill from Amelia Taylor.
 
Klesin finished the night with a team-high nine kills and hit .368 for the Knights to go along with three digs. Senior Rachel Sabatini (Hopewell Junction, N.Y.) put away eight kills and added seven digs. Megan Williams (Glenmont, N.Y.), Morgan Burke (Ringwood, N.J.) and Nicole Spinelli (Wantagh, N.Y.) all finished with five winners.

Maddock closed out a strong night and her fourth double-double of the season with 27 assists, 11 digs and a team-high five service aces. Julimar Figueroa (Dorado, Puerto Rico) rounded out the match with a team-high 22 digs.
 
Sage was led by 11 kills from Michayla Berard and received nine winners from Sara Campolieta. Rachel Liebig handed out 25 assists for the Gators and Missy Schneiderman lifted a team-high 19 digs.
 
For the match, Mount Saint Mary hit .085 as a team, but held a 32-31 edge in kills. The Knights also posted a 10-7 edge in service aces, while total blocks on the night were even at 5-5. Burke led the Mount with four total blocks in the match.
 
Tuesday's loss ends the Knights' season at 15-18 overall.