GARDEN CITY, N.Y. – It was a long time coming for the Maritime Volleyball team, but the Privateers finally got over their lengthy drought against Farmingdale, as the team defeated the Rams in five sets on Saturday afternoon. In their second match of the day, the Privateers fell to the Sage Gators in straight sets at Nassau Community College.
 
The Privateers fell behind two sets to none against the Rams in their opening match of Saturday's tri-match, but Maritime refused to go down without a fight. Maritime answered with a 25-22, and 25-19 win in the third and fourth sets to force a fifth set, which the Privateers won by a 15-12 score to seal their second Skyline Conference win of the season.
 
The win was the first recorded win in program history for the Privateers over the Rams dating back to the 2002 season, snapping a losing streak of at least 16 matches. It was Maritime's first set win over Farmingdale since the 2010 season, when the Privateers took one set in a four-set loss to the Rams to open the season that year.
 
On the day, Maritime was led by senior Carly Lombardo (Setauket, N.Y./Ward Melville) with 20 kills and seven service aces on the afternoon. Classmate Erika Bailey (Newark Valley, N.Y./Tioga Central) had 52 assists in the team's eight sets on the day, while also adding seven kills and 17 digs. Sophomore Meredith Hayes (Houston, Texas/St. Agnes Academy) was second to Lombardo with five service aces, while junior Gabrielle Kempski (Cortlandt Manor, N.Y./Hendrick Hudson) added four aces.
 
Kempski led the team with 34 digs on the day, while three Privateers had the lead with four blocks each as Hayes, along with junior Shannon Brady (Bayport, N.Y./Bayport-Blue Point) and freshman Sheila Flaherty (West Islip, N.Y./West Islip) each led the team. Sophomore Isabella Kent (Narrowsburg, N.Y./Sullivan West) and senior Rachel Rothstein (Setauket, N.Y./Ward Melville) also got on the scoresheet with one kill apiece.
 
In the opening match, Maritime got off to a sluggish start as the team fell by a first set score off 25-11. In the second set, Farmingdale took complete control of the match with its second set win, edging out the Privateers by a 26-24 score, despite leading by 10-0 at one point.
 
The comeback sparked the Privateers for the third set, as Maritime built an early 7-3 lead, which Farmingdale eventually tied at eight, and then again at 10 apiece before taking a 12-10 edge. Maritime called a key timeout, which propelled the team to five straight points as Bailey and Lombardo tallied kills during the run.
 
Maritime continued to take four-point leads, which were trimmed down to two by the Rams on several occasions. Ahead by one at 23-22, Maritime scored the final two points as Bailey and Hayes put the ball down to give Maritime its first set win of the afternoon.
 
In the fourth set, the momentum continued as Maritime took an early 12-5 advantage. Farmingdale sliced the lead to one at 17-16, but it was once again Maritime to rally and answer with five-straight to take a 22-16 lead. Farmingdale score the next three, but the Privateers stopped the run and got a kill and service ace by Lombardo, before Brady collected a huge block to even the match at two sets apiece.
 
The teams rallied back-and-forth in the fifth set as Maritime took the early 7-4 lead and looked to flip the court with their eighth point, but the Rams tallied six unanswered to take a 10-7 lead. Brady picked up a kill, while Lombardo recorded back-to-back service aces to even the game at 10.
 
With both teams needing just five points to earn the conference win, Farmingdale struck first at to take an 11-10 lead. The Privateers responded with three as Bailey and Flaherty connected on key kills to put Maritime within two points of victory. Farmingdale scored next to make it 13-12 in favor of the Privateers, but Maritime stopped the rally and scored the next two points on errors by the Rams to clinch the victory.
 
Against Farmingdale, Maritime was led by Lombardo with 13 kills, and five service aces. Hayes led the team with three blocks, while Kempski led with 15 digs. Bailey held the team lead with 24 assists in the five-set marathon.
 
Gassed from their near two-hour match against the Rams, the Privateers had to turnaround quickly to take on league-favorite Sage in the middle match of the league tri-match. Sage dispatched of Maritime in short order taking the three sets by the scores of 25-23, 25-15, and 25-20.
 
Maritime did take a 19-11 lead in the first set against the Gators, but began to slow down despite being ahead by a 23-14 score. Sage closed out the first set with 11 unanswered points to take the opener by a 25-23 score.
 
In the second set, Maritime had another early lead at 5-2 but were unable to hold down the Gators as Sage closed out the set on a 23-10 run. The third set was similar as the Privateers had a 10-6 lead before the match was tied at 11. Both teams battled to get to 25, but it was Sage to reach first as the Gators edged out the Privateers at 25-20.
 
Against the Gators, it was Brady who led the Privateers with 12 kills, while Kempski led in service aces with three. Kempski also led the match with 19 digs, while Flaherty had three blocks against Sage. Bailey had a day-high 28 assists in the afternoon match as well.
 
Maritime (7-7, 2-2 Skyline) will start a string of five-straight non-conference matches, beginning with Culinary Institute on Monday evening at 6 p.m. in Hyde Park, N.Y.
 
Farmingdale (5-4, 3-1 Skyline) defeated Sage in the third match of the day, and will next travel to Utica for a tournament in upstate New York beginning on Friday, September 30.
 
Sage (6-10, 1-1 Skyline) will take on Hartwick in non-conference action at home on Tuesday evening at 7 p.m. from Kahl Gym in Albany, N.Y.