BRONXVILLE, N.Y. – The Maritime Volleyball team swept a pair of Skyline Conference matches on Sunday afternoon, defeating the St. Joseph's (Bklyn) Bears in five sets, while sweeping host Sarah Lawrence from the Campbell Sports Center.
 
Junior Erika Bailey (Newark Valley, N.Y./Tioga Central) once again headlined the day, as she re-set her single-match assists record with 45 helpers in the opener against the Bears. She followed that up with 18 assists against Sarah Lawrence to further extend her already established single-season record.
 
Sophomore Shannon Brady (Bayport, N.Y./Bayport-Blue Point) led the team with 25 kills on the day overall, with a team-leading 17 against the Bears and another team-leading eight against the Gryphons. Freshman Meredith Hayes (Houston, Texas/St. Agnes Academy) was second overall with a combined 20 kills, including a season-high 14 against St. Joseph's (Bklyn).
 
 Hayes also had a big day on the defensive side of the ball with three blocks on the afternoon, to give her a team-leading 22 on the year. Brady led the team in digs during both matches as she collected 15 in the opener, before adding seven more in the second match of the afternoon.
 
Junior Carly Lombardo (Setauket, N.Y./Ward Melville) had 15 digs on the day with 11 kills and six assists on the day, while senior Charlotte Acklin (Lewes, Del./West Broward (Fla.)) added 12 digs overall, with 14 kills on the day including 11 against St. Joseph's (Bklyn).
 
Freshman Catherine Pfundstein (Deer Park, N.Y./Deer Park) contributed with 13 digs, while junior Irene Gogos (Jackson Heights, N.Y./Aviation) picked up four digs, and classmate Alyssa Esposito (Farmingdale, N.Y./St. John the Baptist) added three digs on the day.
 
Senior Colleen Sheehy (Levittown, N.Y./Island Trees) recorded three kills; with classmate Meghan Burke (Staten Island, N.Y./Susan E. Wagner) registering solo kills in each matchup. Freshman Isabella Kent (Narrowsburg, N.Y./Sullivan West) also added three kills and three digs against Sarah Lawrence.
 
Maritime opened up the afternoon with a start against the St. Joseph's (Bklyn) Bears in their first-ever Skyline Conference meeting. The Privateers ended up winning the closely contested battle in five sets, 25-16, 21-25, 25-18, 16-25, and 15-12.
 
Both teams played back-and-forth through the entirety of the opening set, with neither gaining more than a five-point advantage until the end of the period. Hayes picked up a kill and pair service aces to put Maritime ahead by seven at 21-14. The Privateers picked up the win with four of the final six points of the set.
 
In the second, the score was tied at 20 late in the frame, as the Bears were able to close out the set with five of the final six after regaining service from the Privateers. St. Joseph's (Bklyn) took the set by a 25-21 margin.
 
Both sides exchanged evenly matched sets in the third and fourth sets to send Maritime to a fifth and deciding set for the fifth time this season. The fifth five-set match sets the modern-program record for full-length matches in a single-season.
 
The fifth saw Maritime jump out to a commanding 13-4 advantage as a balanced attack by Brady, Lombardo and Hayes spearheaded the rally. St. Joseph's (Bklyn) answered with eight straight points to make the Privateers sweat just a bit before Brady killed the ball to give the Privateers service once again.
 
With Pfundstein serving, the Bears were called for a bad set on the rally and sealed the win for the Privateers by a 3-2 score.
 
The second match of the day was more one-sided than the matchup earlier in the day, as the Privateers looked to sweep the Sarah Lawrence Gryphons for the second time on the season, this time with a conference win on the line. Maritime picked up the win in the match, sweeping the Gryphons by the scores of 25-8, 25-21, and 25-10.
 
The Privateers jumped out to a 9-0 lead in the opening set, and put their offense on cruise control from there as the team yielded eight points while opening up a 19-8 lead. Maritime closed out the period with six unanswered to take the opener 25-8.
 
The second set saw Sarah Lawrence jump ahead by a quick 4-2 score, Maritime answered back with five straight to take a 7-4 lead and did not relinquish the lead in the remainder of the match despite several runs from the Gryphons. The final score of the second set was 25-21.
 
Looking for the sweep, Maritime got caught off guard with the Gryphons taking a quick 3-0, then a 5-3 lead in the early stages of the third set. But the Privateers went on an impressive 22-5 run to finish off the match, sealing the team's second win of the day in the process.
 
Maritime (10-7, 4-2 Skyline) has already matched its win total for league games from the 2014 season with four more Skyline matches left of the docket. The Privateers have eight more non-conference battles before the next league date, beginning with Pratt Institute on Thursday evening at 7 p.m. from Brooklyn, N.Y.
 
St. Joseph's (Bklyn) (3-6, 0-2 Skyline) will play host to King's (NY) on Tuesday evening. Sarah Lawrence (2-14, 1-3 Skyline) will also take on Pratt for its next game, scheduled for Friday evening at 7:30 p.m.