Kings Point, N.Y. – The Mount Saint Mary College Women's Volleyball team returned to Skyline Conference action on Tuesday night, falling to the United States Merchant Marine Academy in four sets by scores of 22-25, 16-25, 25-21, 10-25. Junior
Grace Riddle (Wantagh, N.Y.) racked up 20 more kills in the match to lead the Knights.
Tuesday defeat drops Mount Saint Mary to 6-5 overall on the season and to 1-1 in league play, while the Mariners move to 7-1 and 2-0 in Skyline Conference play.
First Set
- Mount Saint Mary put away 10 kills in a tightly contested opening set, that saw it jump out to a 21-17 lead after back-to-back Mariner miscues.
- The Knights maintained a 22-19 advantage in the opening frame following a Riddle winner, but the Mariners ripped off the final six points of the set to grab a one set advantage.
- Riddle finished the opening frame with half of the team's 10 kills.
- USMMA totaled 12 winners in the opening frame and hit .167 as a team.
Second Set
- Mount Saint Mary put away a match-high 11 kills in the second set, but the Mariners hit an efficient .474 to move in front 2-0.
- USMMA used a 7-1 run to stretch its lead to 15-7 in the middle stages of the set.
- The Mariners put together a 4-1 spurt to grab a 24-12 lead.
- Mount Saint Mary scored four straight points, keyed by a kill and a service ace from Riddle, to pull to within 24-16, but an Amy Jones kill stopped the rally and gave the Mariners the two set advantage.
Third Set
- Mount Saint Mary got on the board in the third set after committing just three attack errors.
- After falling behind 10-8, Jackie Wolf (Kings Park, N.Y.) started a three-point run with a kill that saw the Knights jump in front 11-10.
- USMMA answered with its own three point run and the teams would stay within two points until a 4-0 stretch from the Knights late in the set.
- Wolf recorded an ace and the Knights took advantage of three USMMA errors to pull in front 23-19.
- Riddle put away two of her four kills in the set late to close out the frame and bring the Knights to within 2-1.
Fourth Set
- USMMA scored the first six points of the fourth set and never looked back. A Paige Smith kill and an ace from Claire Hyun sparked the opening surge.
- Mount Saint Mary cut the lead in half with a three point run and pulled to within 9-8 with a four point stretch keyed by a pair of aces from Fran Cammarata (Carmel, N.Y.).
- USMMA answered with a 7-1 run to stretch its lead to 16-9 and following a Wolf kill closed the set on a 9-0 run to seal the four set victory. Raven Kirsch totaled three aces over the closing run.
For The Knights
- Riddle reach at least 20 kills for the fourth time in the last seven matches. She hit .260 on the night and added three aces, three blocks and six digs.
- Wolf totaled seven kills, a pair of aces and six digs.
- Haley Houghton (Bellerose, N.Y.) wrapped up the night with five kills and three blocks.
- Cammarata handed out 29 assists and chipped in three aces and six digs.
- Alyssa Barbara (Islip Terrace, N.Y.) led the team with 15 digs and contributed an ace.
For The Mariners
- Smith led the USMMA offense with 11 kills and finished a double-double with 12 digs.
- Hyun and Brittany Pinzon split the setting duties with Hyun handing out 19 assists and Pinzon recording 15. Hyun led all players in the match with five aces with Pinzon chipping in three.
Match Statistics
- USMMA finished with the advantage in kills 42-33 and hit .235 as a team against .059 for the Knights.
- Aces went to the Mariners 13-10.
- The Knights took the edge in total team blocks, 4-2.
What's Next
- The Knights travel to Purchase on Wednesday for a 7:00 p.m. Skyline Conference match with the Panthers.
- The Mariners take on Farmingdale State on Thursday in their third conference match of the season.
