ALBANY, N.Y. – The Maritime Volleyball team dropped a pair of Skyline Conference matches to the Sage Gators and the Farmingdale Rams in New York State's Capitol on Saturday afternoon.
 
The Privateers fell to the Gators by the scores of 25-12, 25-16, and 25-12, and followed that up with a straight-sets loss to Farmingdale; 25-22, 25-12 and 25-23.
 
On the day, sophomore Shannon Brady (Bayport, N.Y./Bayport-Blue Point) led the team with 14 kills, followed by freshman Meredith Hayes (Houston, Texas/St. Agnes Academy) with 11. Junior Erika Bailey (Newark Valley, N.Y./Tioga Central) chipped in with 28 helpers on the day, while Hayes and Bailey along with senior Charlotte Acklin (Lewes, Del./West Broward (Fla.)) and junior Carly Lombardo (Setauket, N.Y./Ward Melville) were all tied for the team lead with two service aces apiece on the day.
 
Defensively, Hayes led the day with four blocks while senior Colleen Sheehy (Levittown, N.Y./Island Trees) was second on the team with two. Lombardo and freshman Catherine Pfundstein (Deer Park, N.Y./Deer Park) both led the team with 15 digs and were followed closely by Acklin with 13 and Brady with 12.
 
The Privateers began the afternoon taking an early 4-1 lead on the Gators in the opening set, but Sage answered back and flexed its muscle to jump ahead by a 20-6 score before finishing off the opener by a 25-12 score. The Gators continued the momentum into the second period with eight straight to start off the set. Maritime closed the gap to nine at 18-9, but Sage responded with two more points.
 
The Privateers then rallied and put together a six-point run as Lombardo and Brady combined for three of the points on kills. Sage closed out the second set by a 25-16 score after taking five of the final six points of the set.
 
In the third set, the Gators took another early lead at 11-1, Brady and Hayes collected kills during a solid turn for the Privateers as Maritime closed to within six at 13-7. Sage closed out the set and the match, as the Gators held on for a solid 25-12 victory.
 
The second match of the day saw the Privateers matchup against the Farmingdale Rams. The teams were evenly matched in the early stages of the opener, but Farmingdale rallied to take a 9-3 lead. However, Maritime closed the gap and pulled to within two at 12-10.
 
The Privateers were able to trim the lead down to one at 23-22, but the Rams closed out the set with the final two points at 25-22.
 
The Rams took a 10-2 lead in the early stages of the second set, which saw the lead swell up to 13-4. The Privateers were only able to pull within six of Farmingdale, before the Rams earned the set victory by a 25-12 advantage.
 
Farmingdale jumped ahead by a 4-1 score, but the Privateers clawed back to make it 6-6 with a kill by Acklin sparking the run. The teams went back-and-forth with Maritime trailing by one at 15-14, before the Rams opened up a five-point margin. The Privateers were able to pull back within one at both 22-21 and 24-23, but the Rams finished off the match with their 25th point coming on a kill.
 
Maritime (14-13, 4-4 Skyline) will play in its final non-conference match of the regular season on Wednesday when the team travels to Brooklyn to take on the Medgar Evers Cougars.
 
Sage (20-9, 7-1 Skyline) will have a tough task at hand in their next matchup when the team hosts Oneonta on Tuesday, October 27. Farmingdale (12-11, 5-2 Skyline) will not play again until next Saturday, in its final Skyline tri-match of the year at St. Joseph's (LI) when the Rams take on the Golden Eagles and the Mount St. Mary Knights.