The Maritime College women's volleyball team came up with its second straight five-set Skyline Conference home victory on Tuesday night against Sarah Lawrence. The Privateers were led by senior middle blocker Meredith Hayes (Houston, Texas/St. Agnes Academy) who set a new program record for kills in a match with 25.

The Privateers came out in the opening set firing on all cylinders as sophomore setter Erika Kirchner (Meadowmere Park, N.Y./Lawrence) started out with the serve and helped them jump ahead 4-0. Later in the set, Abby Steele (Crossville, Tenn./Stone Memorial) put down a service ace to give  Maritime its largest lead of the set at 13-7, however, the Gryphons started to slowly climb their way back in. With the score knotted at 19, Sarah Lawrence came up with a big kill to take its first lead of the set and never looked back, escaping with a 25-22 win.
 
The second set started off hot for the Privateers again, this time it was Hayes leading the charge as the Houston, TX native picked up three kills in the first seven points won for Maritime. Despite another early lead to begin a set, Sarah Lawrence battled to take the lead once again. Late in the set, the Privateers led 21-20 and desperately needed to take control of the set to stay in the match. Kirchner turned to freshman middle blocker Celyna Custodio (Danbury, Conn./Danbury) to side out. The Danbury, CT native did just that with a powerful swing and then Hayes came up clutch to close out the set as she picked up a kill and a solo block on back-to-back points to give the Privateers the 24-20 lead. Three points later, a Gryphon service error evened the match at one set a piece.
 
The third set was powered by a big service run from Abby Solomos (Mt. Sinai, N.Y./Mt. Sinai) and some strategic hitting from Hayes. Leading 8-7, Solomos stepped up to the service line and helped lead a six-point serving run for a 14-7 advantage. A quick side out from the Privateers kept the momentum on their side and Hayes started to dominate out of the middle. The senior captain was strategically tipping the ball to the short corner and picked up six kills in the third set as Maritime dominated 25-14.
 
Looking to stay alive in the match, the Gryphons were the ones to make the big run in the middle of the set as they jumped ahead 18-12. The Privateers battled back, but the comeback attempt fell short as they fell 25-20 to force a fifth set.
 
Similar to Maritime's five-set win against St. Joseph's Brooklyn last week, they jumped ahead early yet again. Hayes picked up two kills and two aces in the first nine points won by the Privateers and they led 11-3 in the set to 15. Sarah Lawrence wouldn't give up though and fought back to bring it to a three-point game at 12-9. However, Custodio stepped up in the closing points and came up with back-to-back blocks to give Maritime match point at 14-9. Two points later, freshman outside hitter Meghan Eagleton (Poughkeepsie, N.Y./Roy C. Ketcham) closed out the match with a kill and the Privateers improved to 3-4 in Skyline play.
 
Hayes finished with 25 kills, three more than the program record, which was held by Shannon Brady (Bayport, N.Y./Bayport-Blue Point). Hayes also totaled an impressive .429 hitting percentage. Kirchner tallied 39 assists on the night, while Solomos led the defensive effort with 14 digs.
 
The Privateers are back on the court this Thursday, Oct. 18 at 7 p.m. as they take on William Patterson in a non-conference matchup. They will follow that up with a home conference tri-match on Sunday, Oct. 21 beginning at 11 a.m. where they will take on USMMA and Farmingdale St.