BRONXVILLE, NY – The Maritime College women's volleyball team played a pair of matches at Sarah Lawrence's Campbell Sports Center on Saturday.  After falling to the host Gryphons (6-8, 4-0 Skyline) by a 25-10, 25-15, 25-13 count, the Privateers (2-8, 0-4 Skyline) took a set off Baruch (3-10) before ultimately dropping a 25-10, 25-7, 21-25, 25-13 decision.

Maritime's first match of the day was a conference matchup with Sarah Lawrence.  The Gryphons took control early on, building an 8-4 lead in the first set.  After the Privateers won consecutive points to pull within 8-6, Sarah Lawrence ended the frame on a 17-4 run.  The Gryphons hit a combined .321 (12 kills, three errors, 28 attempts) in the 25-10 first-set triumph.

That momentum carried over into the second set, as the Gryphons jumped in front 12-3.  Maritime responded with six of the next eight points to trim its deficit to 14-9, but Sarah Lawrence countered with a 3-0 spurt of its own to push the lead back to eight, 17-9.  After a four-point Maritime spurt again brought the Privateers within four, 17-13, the Gryphons went on an 8-2 run to close out the set, 25-15.

Sarah Lawrence then rattled off the first seven points of the third set.  The Gryphons extended the margin to 14-2 before the Privateers used a 7-4 rally to get back within 18-9.  That's as close Maritime would get, though, as Sarah Lawrence hit .435 (11-1-23) in the set to earn a 25-13 win and finish off the 3-0 victory.

Brooke Kirchner (Lawrence, NY) paced the Privateers with four kills and four assists, and she also tied for the team lead with seven digs.  Celyna Custodio (Danbury, CT) had seven digs and two service aces, while Meghan Eagleton (Poughkeepsie, NY) also tallied seven digs.

Davis Mathis smashed 13 kills and added eight digs for the Gryphons.  Katie Ferguson had nine kills and four aces to go along with a match-high 10 digs.  Mia Rector handed out 16 assists, while Isabel Pecora contributed eight assists and two aces.  As a team, Sarah Lawrence hit .316 (34-9-79) and served 17 aces.

Baruch raced out to a 9-3 lead in the first set of Maritime's second match, but the Privateers responded with three straight points to make it 9-6.  However, after a Jessica Mele (Southold, NY) ace brought Maritime within 11-9, the Bearcats finished the set by taking 14 of the final 15 points.  Baruch didn't commit an attack error in the set, hitting .536 (15 kills, 28 attempts) in the 25-10 win.

After the Bearcats took the second set by a 25-7 count, Maritime rallied to win the third set.  Baruch opened up an early 5-1 advantage in the frame, but the Privateers stormed back to tie it at 7-7 on an Eagleton ace.  Maritime eventually built an 18-11 cushion before Baruch got back within one at 19-18.  However, the Privateers won six of the next nine points to capture the set, 25-21.

In the fourth set, Baruch quickly jumped in front 11-3.  The Privateers countered with a 6-1 rally to trim its deficit to 12-9, but Maritime would get no closer.  The Bearcats ended the match on a 9-1 run, closing out the 3-1 victory with a 25-13 set win.  Baruch posted a .400 hitting percentage in the final set, slamming 13 kills and committing just three errors in 25 attempts.

Custodio finished with eight kills, eight digs and two aces in the match.  Kirchner also had eight digs to go along with 17 assists, while Kelly Kuhn (Lansdale, PA) notched a team-best nine digs.

For the Bearcats, Sarah Chang led the way with 17 kills.  Minami Ebihara tallied 14 digs and six aces, and Sofia Tam collected 12 digs to go along with five aces.  Aminina Muminovic recorded 28 assists and five aces, while Anesa Feratovic also served five aces.  Baruch had 23 aces overall and hit .245 (42-15-110) as a team.

This marked the end of a string where the Privateers played seven consecutive matches away from home.  Maritime returns to Riesenberg Gymnasium on Monday night for a 7 p.m. matchup with St. Joseph's Brooklyn (3-3, 1-1 Skyline).