Newburgh, N.Y. – Led by career-high kill totals from both Megan Williams (Glenmont, N.Y.) and Morgan Burke (Ringwood, N.J.), the Mount Saint Mary College Women's Volleyball team snapped a six match losing streak with a hard fought 26-28, 25-12, 25-18, 14-25, 15-13 non-conference win over Bard in its home opener on Wednesday.
 
After rallying from a 24-21 deficit late in the first set to tie the score following back-to-back miscues by Bard, the Knights saw the visitors score the final three points of the frame, including two kills from Sofia Koukia and Philippine Alba, to take a 1-0 advantage with a 28-26 first set victory.
 
Mount Saint Mary rebounded to even the match by forcing Bard into 11 attack errors and holding the Raptors to just three kills in the second set. The Knights jumped in front by a frame after hitting a blistering .310 in the third, putting away 17 kills against just four attack errors. Williams recorded eight kills in nine attempts to hit an impressive .889 in the third stanza.
 
Bard pulled back even in the fourth with 12 kills and used a 6-2 run to close out the frame to send the match to a deciding fifth set. Alba totaled five kills and hit .364 for the Raptors in the fourth frame on Wednesday.
 
A tightly contested fifth frame saw Bard jump out to a 4-2 lead and take a 9-8 advantage on an Emily Anastasi service ace.
 
Following the ace, the Mount scored the next three points to pull in front 11-9 and went on to score four of the final five points of the match to collect its second win of the season.
 
Williams reach double-figures in kills for the second time this season, putting away a career-high 13 for the Knights while hitting .294 on the night. She added three total blocks and four digs to the winning effort.

Burke recorded double-figures in kills for the first time in her career with 11 on Wednesday, hitting .280 and chipping in with four total blocks. Angelia Cirigliano (Newburgh, N.Y.) and Nicole Spinelli (Wantagh, N.Y.) supported the offensive attack with seven winners apiece.
 
The Knights had a trio of players record double-figures in digs, led by 21 from Cirigliano. She closed out an impressive night with a pair of aces and four block assists for the Mount. Jackie Survilla (West Islip, N.Y.) lifted 16 digs for the Mount and freshman Madelyn Barberan (Fishkill, N.Y.) totaled 17 on the night.
 
Senior setter Kristen Maddock (Medford, N.Y.) handed out a career-high 44 assists for Mount Saint Mary and just missed a double-double with nine digs. She added a team-high three service aces on the night.
 
Bard was led by 13 kills from Koukia who also finished the match with nine digs. Anastasi led all players with 23 digs on the night with Victoria Chou adding a team-high 20 assists.
 
Overall, Mount Saint Mary held a 47-42 advantage in kills on the night and hit .144 as a unit. Bard held a slim 8-7 edge in service aces, while total team blocks went to the Knights 6.5-5.
 
Wednesday's win pushes Mount Saint Mary to 2-8 overall on the season. Next up for the Knights is a trip to Mahwah, N.J. for four matches at the Roadrunner Invitational hosted by Ramapo. The Knights will open the event on Friday against New Paltz at 4:00 p.m.