The Maritime College women's volleyball team dropped a pair of matches at the College of Staten Island (CSI) tri-match. The Privateers played well in both matches, but fell to CSI and New Jersey City University (NJCU) in three sets.

In the opener against CSI, Maritime came out strong and jumped out to an 11-3 lead. However, the Dolphins eventually woke up and came right back with a big run of their own to tie the set at 11. After trading runs to get to 16-16, CSI made the final push that would make the difference in the opening frame. The Dolphins put together a six-point run and took control of the set at 24-17.

The momentum had firmly shifted in favor of CSI and the Privateers were unable to shift it back in their favor during the second set as they fell 25-15.

Maritime was able to bounce back in the third set and battle all the way to the end with the Dolphins. Trailing 18-12, the Privateers began to mount a comeback powered by kills from Abby Steele (Crossville, Tenn./Stone Memorial) and Meghan Eagleton (Poughkeepsie, N.Y./Roy C. Ketcham). Sophomore setter Erika Kirchner (Meadowmere Park, N.Y./Lawrence) also threw in back-to-back aces as well at 17-21 to bring the score within two points. At 19-22, Celyna Custodio (Danbury, Conn./Danbury) put down a big kill out of the middle and Abby Solomos (Mt. Sinai, N.Y./Mt. Sinai) backed it up with an ace to bring it within one. However, Maritime couldn't get over the hump and fell 25-2

Eagleton was solid on the outside for the Privateers finishing with a team-high eight kills and a .200 hitting percentage while Custodio was very efficient out of the middle with six kills and a .364 hitting percentage. Kirchner dished out 16 assists, while Solomos tallied an impressive match-high 17 digs.

The Privateers struggled early on against NJCU and could never find their rhythm offensively in the opening set as they fell 25-11.

The second set got off to a much better start for Maritime, as an early four-point service run from Rylee Malone (Southington, Conn./University High School of Science & Engineering) brought the match to within one point at 8-9. A few rotations later, the Privateers picked up their first lead of the match behind two aces from Kirchner. Kirchner's run at the service line gave Maritime a 15-13 lead. However, the Gothic Knights battled back and won the final 11 of 13 points to win the second set 25-17.

The third set began in a similar fashion to the opening frame, however, the Privateers never gave up and despite trailing 11-24, they saved four match points before eventually falling at 25-15.

Custodio led the offensive effort with four kills, while Kirchner added nine assists and 10 digs. The Privateers get back to Riesenberg Hall on Monday, Oct. 1 at 7 p.m. against Brooklyn College before resuming Skyline Conference play at Purchase College on Wed. at 7 p.m.