KINGS POINT, NY - The Maritime College women's volleyball team split its two matches on the second day of the Maritime Cup on Sunday afternoon, defeating Mass. Maritime in straight sets, and then falling to Merchant Marine. 

In the first match of the day, the Privateers beat the Buccaneers (25-11, 26-24, 25-11) to pick up their second win of the 2019 season. In the opening set, Maritime jumped out to a 15-5 lead, forcing Mass. Maritime to call a timeout. Once play resumed, the Privateers continued to roll as they closed out the set on a 10-6 run.

In the second set, Abby Steele (Crossville, Tenn./Stone Memorial) had a kill to cut the Privateers' deficit to 22-19, which ignited a furious comeback for Maritime. Celyna Custodio (Danbury, Conn./Danbury) had two kills in the closing 8-2 run, and Rebecca Garcia (Yonkers, NY/Academy of Mount St. Ursula) served an ace on set point to give the Privateers the 26-24 win.

In the third set, the Buccaneers took an early 9-5 lead before Maritime responded with a dominant 15-1 run, punctuated by another Steele kill. During the run, the Privateers had four service aces, and eventually closed out the match with a kill from Rylee Malone (Southington, Conn./University High School of Science & Engineering), 25-11.

Celyna Custodio (Danbury, Conn./Danbury) finished the match with nine kills, while Erika Kirchner (Meadowmere Park, N.Y./Lawrence) dished out 26 assists. Defensively, Malone and Abby Solomos (Mt. Sinai, N.Y./Mt. Sinai) led the way with 13 and 12 digs, respectively. Steele contributed eight kills and 10 digs as well in the victory.

In their next match, the Privateers dropped the first two sets to the hosts, Merchant Marine, 25-14 and 25-8, allowing the Mariners to hit above .200 in both frames. In the final set, Maritime looked to extend the match by taking a 5-4 lead off an ace from Solomos. Merchant Marine would take a 20-14 lead before the Privateers responded with four unanswered points, with a kill from Meghan Eagleton (Poughkeepsie, N.Y./Roy C. Ketcham) cutting the deficit to 20-18. A kill from Celyna and an ace from Kirchner brought Maritime to within two points, 23-21 but the Mariners were able to hold on for the victory, 25-22.

For the match, Celyna led the offense with four kills while Kirchner tallied eight assists. Defensively, Solomos chipped in eight digs and Garcia added seven as well.

The Privateers will be hosting the New York Police Department's women's volleyball team in a scrimmage on Tuesday, September 17 at 7:00 PM, and will return to NCAA action on Thursday, September 19 as they travel to Wayne, NJ to take on William Patterson.