GORHAM, ME – The Mount Saint Mary College women's volleyball team came away with a win and a loss in their tri-match against Southern Maine and Western New England.
The Basics
(Match 1)
Score: Mount Saint Mary College 3, Southern Maine 2
Records: Mount Saint Mary College (4-6, 1-0 Skyline) | Southern Maine (3-8, 0-0)
(Match 2)
Score: Mount Saint Mary College 0, Western New England 3
Records: Mount Saint Mary College (4-8, 1-0 Skyline) | Western New England (4-8, 0-0)
Rapid Recap
(Match 1)
Mount Saint Mary looked to continue their win streak against Southern Maine Saturday afternoon after winning their last 2 games. The Knights struggled to start the first set, surrendering the first 13 points to the Huskies, but they did not give up. The Mount went on a 12-2 run before eventually tying the match 17-17 after 2 straight kills from their leading scorer in the match and on the season,
Julianna Simone. Although the Knights showed great fight to come back in the set, Southern Main recovered and won the set 25-23.
The Mount played much better to start the second set, as senior
Vanessa Seymour showed off her elite ability as a setter, dishing out 39 assists throughout the match, the most from a Knight's player since 2023. Mount Saint Mary would find themselves down 11-6, but would once again make their way back into the set before eventually taking the lead 16-14 after a 6-1 run. The Huskies once again caught a second wind, going on an 8-1 run to go back up 22-17. Southern Maine would close out the set and win 25-20 to go up 2-0.
The Knights got off to a much better start in the third set, taking a 9-6 lead. The Huskies tied the set back up 12-12 as it was obvious this set was coming down to the wire. Freshman middle blocker has played a huge role for the Knights this season, as she had a season-high 11 kills and 6.0 blocks this match. The Mount would go up 23-18 late in the set, and
Jonaiya Williams would secure the last 2 points of the set with kills to win 25-22.
With momentum now shifting in their favor, the Knights started off the fourth set 11-3.
Erin Lema dominated with her service game, finishing the match with a team-high 6 kills. Mount Saint Mary took off and never turned back, as
Julianna Simone and
Brooke Lavelle both had extremely efficient matches, hitting .341 and .500, respectively. They would win the fourth set 25-13 and now controlled their own destiny in the fifth and final set.
The Knights took the lead from the start, going up 6-2 in the first to 15 points final set. Southern Maine attempted to go on a run, but the Mount was too locked in, not allowing the Huskies to score more than 2 points at a time. Up 12-8,
Ava Robles would check into the game as the server and close out the game for Mount Saint Mary as they completed the 3-2 comeback over Souther Maine.
(Match 2)
The Knights had just completed a five-set thriller, and although spirits were high, they were now about to face a fresh Western New England squad. Fatigue was going to be a crucial factor in this match, as the Mount found themselves down 7-0 to open the first set. They trailed big for a majority of the set, but found a groove late in the set with a 6-0 service run from
Julianna Simone to cut their deficit to 18-14. The Golden Bears caught their footing and were able to handle the Knights, winning the first set 25-17.
Mount Saint Mary got off to a better start, taking a 5-2 lead early on, though Western New England would go on an 8-1 lead to go up 10-6. Just like the first match, the Knights had no quit, and
Vanessa Seymour would once again have a great match as the starting setter for the Mount, finishing with 20 assists and 4 aces. They would take the lead 16-14 after a couple of aces from Seymour, but this would be short-lived, as the Golden Bears went on another big run to take back the lead. Western New England would ultimately win the second set 25-20.
The Knights were in a similar position against Southern Maine earlier in the day, down 2-0, so they knew they had the potential to form a comeback. The third set stayed tight throughout, with the biggest lead from either team being when the Golden Bears were up 3-0 to start. Mount Saint Mary continued to battle as both teams went back and forth, trading leads. Late in the se,t the Knights were up 23-22 with a chance to stay alive. Unfortunately, Western New England would score 4 of the next 5 points to win the third set 26-24 and the match 3-0.
Notes and Numbers
(Match 1)
(Match 2)
For continuing coverage of Mount Saint Mary College Athletics, visit msmcknights.com and follow the Knights on Twitter (X), Instagram, and YouTube.
