THROGGS NECK, N.Y. – Maritime junior setter
Erika Bailey (Newark Valley, N.Y./Tioga Central) broke the modern-day single-match assist record as she recorded 40 helpers, to guide the Privateer volleyball team to a five-set victory over the John Jay Bloodhounds on Tuesday evening from the Riesenberg Hall Gymnasium.
The new single-match high eclipses the previous match-high of 28 set by Claudette Killian in 2011 against Purchase.
Maritime needed five sets to pick up the win, as the Privateers took the first set 25-20, before falling in the second 20-25. Maritime picked up another win in the third set 25-18, and battled to a tough 21-25 loss in the fourth to force the deciding fifth set. In another closely contested period, Maritime earned the win by a 15-13 score.
Junior
Carly Lombardo (Setauket, N.Y./Ward Melville) led the team with 18 kills, as sophomore
Shannon Brady (Bayport, N.Y./Bayport-Blue Point) collected 10 kills, followed by freshman
Meredith Hayes (Houston, Texas/St. Agnes Academy) with nine. Hayes led the team with six service aces, as both Lombardo and sophomore
Gabrielle Kempski (Cortlandt Manor, N.Y./Hendrick Hudson) had three apiece.
Defensively, Brady led the team with 18 digs, followed by 15 from Lombardo, and 12 from senior
Charlotte Acklin (Lewes, Del./West Broward (Fla.)) on the evening. Lombardo had two blocks, while Hayes and senior
Colleen Sheehy (Levittown, N.Y./Island Trees) each had one block.
John Jay started out the match with seven straight points, but the Privateers answered with eight straight as well. Another run by the Bloodhounds gave John Jay an 11-8 lead, which was then followed by a four-point stretch by the Privateers to move Maritime ahead by a 12-11 score.
The two sides went back-and-forth through the next series, as the set was tied at 19 apiece. The Privateers recorded the next five points to take a 24-19 lead, and eventually got a kill from Lombardo to seal the win 24-20.
The two teams played another back-and-forth set in the second, as the teams were even at 20 apiece in the waning stages of the stanza. The Bloodhounds went on a five-point streak to close out the set to even the match at one aside.
In the third, Maritime started off quickly with a 10-4 advantage, John Jay then closed the gap and pulled to within one at 12-11 before a brief Maritime burst. John Jay trailed by two at 20-18, but the Privateers forged ahead with five more points to take the third set by a 25-18 score.
The Bloodhounds began the fourth set with a 4-0 run, and opened up a 13-5 lead before a Maritime timeout. The Privateers cut the deficit to 15-13, but the Bloodhounds refused to yield the lead until the set was tied at 19 aside. Maritime took the set lead at 20-19, but John Jay scored six of the final seven points in the set to take the fourth by a 25-21 score.
Having lost its two previous five-set matches this season, the Privateers looked to reverse its luck with a win in the fifth against John Jay. Maritime surged ahead to a 7-3 lead and looked to switch sides with a large advantage, however John Jay scored the next five points and took an 8-7 lead into the final series of the evening.
The Privateers scored the next three points with a kill from both Lombardo and Bailey, but John Jay responded again and pulled within one at 10-9. Another Lombardo kill was answered by the Bloodhounds, while Bailey and a pair of attack errors by John Jay put the Privateers just one point away at 14-10.
John Jay scored the next three points to make the score 14-13, but Bailey took the 40th pass of the night from Bailey and drove the ball to the ground to seal the win for the Privateers.
Maritime (5-6, 1-1 Skyline) will not play again until Sunday afternoon when the team travels to Old Westbury for a Skyline tri-match with the Panthers and the Mount St. Mary Knights. The Maritime matches will be played at 12 p.m. and 2 p.m. during the tri-match.
John Jay (3-6, 1-3 CUNYAC) will shuffle down the east coast to Dover, Delaware to take on the Arcadia and Wesley in a tri-match hosted by Wesley on Saturday afternoon.
