Waltham, Mass. – The Mount Saint Mary College Women's Volleyball team opened the 2017 season with a split of two non-conference matches on Saturday to open the Brandies Invitational. The Knights dropped a 17-25, 9-25, 20-25 to Babson in the season opener before rallying for a 24-26, 25-20, 22-25, 25-15, 15-13 win over Rhode Island College. Sophomore Morgan Burke (Ringwood, N.J.) produced 19 kills over eight sets, while senior Chelsea Barberan (Fishkill, N.Y.) totaled 27 digs for the Mount.
 
Babson 3 – Mount Saint Mary 0
In the season opener the Mount was held to a .042 hitting percentage and totaled just 15 winners over the three set match. The Beavers finished with a .352 team attack percentage, putting away 43 kills against just 11 miscues in the contest.
 
Burke paced the offensive attack for the Mount with five kills, hitting .231 in the contest and adding a dig. Senior Megan Williams (Glenmont, N.Y.), sophomore Madelyn Barberan (Fishkill, N.Y.) and freshman Danielle Kralik (Bedford Hills, N.Y.) each rounded out the opener with a pair of kills for the Knights.
 
Junior Kim Gries (Hicksville, N.Y.) assisted on each of the team's 15 kills against Babson with senior Julimar Figueroa (Dorado, Puerto Rico) leading the team with three service aces to go along with four defensive digs.
 
Chelsea Barberan lifted 13 of the team's 34 digs in the contest  with Gries adding five digs. Madelyn Barberan and Kralik each rounded out the match with three digs for the Knights.
 
Babson was paced by Shannon Roseen who totaled 11 kills and hit an efficient .550 in the win. Allie Puccio and Kristin Carosotto each put away nine kills with Carosotto adding two total blocks. Elizabeth Cameron led all players in the contest with 22 assists for the Beavers.
 
Mount Saint Mary 3 – Rhode Island College 2
Mount Saint Mary rebounded in its second match of the day, outlasting Rhode Island College in five sets. The Mount took the final two frames to pick up the victory and rounded out the match with 49 kills and five total blocks.
 
Burke picked up a career-high 14 kills in the match and finished one block shy of her career-high with five in the match. Madelyn Barberan also totaled a career-high in kills with 12 and closed out a double-double effort for the Knights with 13 digs.
 
Ally Klesin (Glendale, N.Y.) finished off a solid match with six kills with Jackie Survilla (West Islip, N.Y.) putting away five winners and adding four aces. Nicole Spinelli (Wantagh, N.Y.) closed a strong contest with seven winners, four service aces and five digs.
 
Chelsea Barberan led the Mount with 14 digs in the second match of the day with Figuero lifting eight digs and adding four aces.
 
Gries handed out a season-high 41 assists for the Mount, missing her career mark by four helpers, and added a kill and nine digs in the winning effort.
 
Note: Complete box score will be posted when it becomes available
 
At 1-1 overall on the season, the Mount will finish off play at Brandeis with matches against Smith and Wellesley starting at 11:00 a.m.