NEW YORK, N.Y. – The Maritime volleyball team fell to the John Jay Bloodhounds on Tuesday evening by a 3-1 score in Manhattan.
 
The Privateers were led once again by senior Shannon Brady (Bayport, N.Y./Bayport-Blue Point) who had a double-double with 12 kills and 11 digs on the night, while also leading the Privateers with four service aces. Junior Meredith Hayes (Houston, Texas/St. Agnes Academy) had eight kills with a team-best two blocks, while senior Gabrielle Kempski (Cortlandt Manor, N.Y./Hendrick Hudson) had seven kills with seven digs on the night.
 
Freshman Erika Kirchner (Meadowmere Park, N.Y./Lawrence) added 27 assists on the night to go along with two digs at the setter position. Freshman Abby Steele (Crossville, Tenn./Stone Memorial) had a season-high six kills, while classmate Abby Solomos (Mt. Sinai, N.Y./Mt. Sinai) was second on the team with three aces, and also chipped in with seven digs.
 
The scores of the match were 25-22 and 25-23 in favor of John Jay through the first two sets, Maritime emerged victorious in the third set by a 25-23 score before John Jay put the match away with a 25-14 win in the fourth.
 
In what was a tightly contested battle in the opening set, neither side gained more than a four-point lead aside from a 20-16 lead in favor of the Bloodhounds. The set was tied on 10 occasions with John Jay emerging late with the 25-22 win.
 
The second set saw Maritime take an early 7-3 lead as John Jay committed unforced errors on the floor. After a timeout the Bloodhounds responded and tied the set at seven. Maritime was able to come from behind and tie the set at 11 but John Jay came back and moved ahead on the scoreboard by a 19-15 difference.
 
The Privateers were able to trim the lead to one as Maritime fought off set point behind an ace from Kempski, and kills from Steele and Brady, but it was not enough as John Jay finished off the set to take a 2-0 lead.
 
In the third Maritime controlled much of the play after falling behind 8-7 as the Privateers erased the deficit and turned it into a 12-9 lead. Maritime held the lead until the set was tied at 22 but a kill from junior Colleen Ireland (Hyde Park, N.Y./Mount Olive (N.J.)) was sandwiched between a pair of Bloodhound errors to give the Privateers a set win.
 
Maritime took a 3-2 lead in the early-going of the fourth set but John Jay scored the next 10 points and did not look back as the Bloodhounds cruised ahead to a 16-5 advantage. The Privateers fourth back to get within six but John Jay rallied and seven of the final nine points to pick up their third set win.
 
Maritime (4-2) will take Wednesday to recover after four matches in the last four days before heading into Thursday night's conference opener against Yeshiva at 7 p.m. from Riesenberg Hall Gymnasium.
 
John Jay (3-0) heads on the road for its next match, with a conference battle at Medgar Evers beginning at 7 p.m. on Thursday evening.