NEW ROCHELLE, N.Y. – The Maritime Volleyball Team travelled up Interstate 95 to take on the New Rochelle Blue Angels on Thursday evening, falling in four sets by a 3-1 score in non-conference action.
 
New Rochelle took the opening two sets by close 25-17 and 25-22 scores before the Privateers got on the board with a set win by the score of 25-17. In the fourth set, Maritime dropped the decision by a 25-12 score as the New Rochelle won the fourth set and the match.
 
Maritime was led by senior Carly Lombardo (Setauket, N.Y./Ward Melville) with 15 kills on the match, while sophomore Meredith Hayes (Houston, Texas/St. Agnes Academy) had 10 kills and a team-best .333 hitting percentage. Senior Erika Bailey (Newark Valley, N.Y./Tioga Central) had 31 assists, while adding three kills of her own. Junior Shannon Brady (Bayport, N.Y./Bayport-Blue Point) added six kills, while freshman Sheila Flaherty (West Islip, N.Y./West Islip) had four and sophomore Isabella Kent (Narrowsburg, N.Y./Sullivan West) added one.
 
Junior Gabrielle Kempski (Cortlandt Manor, N.Y./Hendrick Hudson) led the team with three service aces, with Hayes adding the only other ace for the Privateers on the night. Kempski also led the Privateers with nine digs, with Lombardo right behind her with eight; Bailey was third on the team with four digs. Flaherty had one block, while Hayes had a pair of assisted blocks. Lombardo and Brady also had assisted blocks on the night.
 
In a competitive opening set as the Privateers battled back after trailing early and closed the gap to 10-8 as Maritime scored four unanswered including a pair of kills from Hayes. The Privateers continued to keep it close until a 5-1 run by the Blue Angels put New Rochelle ahead 23-15 before closing out the set.
 
In the second set, it was Maritime to take a quick 5-1 lead as Hayes added two more kills and Lombardo had one. Another rally in the middle of the set gave the Privateers a 13-8 advantage, but New Rochelle answered to tie it up at 17. After trailing by a 22-20 score, New Rochelle closed out the set with five-straight points to take a two set to none lead.
 
Maritime put it all together in the third set with a 3-0 lead in the early going, New Rochelle rallied back but the Privateers continued to keep the Blue Angels at arm's length. Eventually New Rochelle took a brief lead at 12-11, but Lombardo evened things back up at 13 with a kill.
 
Lombardo sparked the next Privateer rally with a kill, which was capped off by a Brady kill to put Maritime up by a 16-13 advantage. After New Rochelle pulled back within one at 18-17, Maritime capped off the set with seven straight points to seal the set win at 25-17. During the rally, Bailey, Kent and Hayes all had kills.
 
In the fourth set, Maritime fell behind by an 8-3 score and was never able to recover. New Rochelle continued to build on its lead and eventually took the set by a 25-12 score to take the match by a 3-1 mark.
 
Maritime (6-6, 1-1 Skyline) will have a pair of important matches coming up this weekend with its first Skyline Conference tri-match against Farmingdale and Sage. The matches will be hosted by Farmingdale on the Nassau Community College Campus as Farmingdale's gym undergoes renovations this fall. Opening serve is slated for 10 a.m. against the host Rams.
 
New Rochelle (2-6) will travel to Montclair State on Saturday, to take on the host Red Hawks and the Brooklyn Bulldogs in a tri-match in Northern New Jersey.