THROGGS NECK, NY – In a back-and-forth affair that featured 21 ties and 12 lead changes, the Maritime College women's volleyball team earned a thrilling five-set win against Five Towns on Monday night. The Privateers (1-2) played their best volleyball of the night in the fifth to clinch their first victory of the season, a 29-31, 26-24, 25-21, 22-25, 15-7 triumph over the Sound (0-3) at Riesenberg Gymnasium.
With Maritime leading the match 2-1, Five Towns opened up a 13-8 cushion in the fourth set. After the Sound extended their advantage to 19-12, the Privateers responded with five straight points to pull within two at 19-17. However, Five Towns countered with a 3-0 run of its own to push the margin back to 22-17, and the Sound took the set by a 25-22 count.
Five Towns scored the first two points of the fifth set before a
Jessica Mele kill started a 10-1 Maritime rally that put the Privateers in front, 10-3. A block by Mele and
Celyna Custodio closed out the set, 15-7, and clinched the 3-2 victory. The Privateers hit an exceptional .417 in the final set, smashing six kills while committing just one error in 12 attack attempts.
Three different Privateers had double-doubles in the victory. Mele finished with 12 kills and 11 digs, while
Meghan Eagleton contributed 10 kills and 15 digs.
Brooke Kirchner paced Maritime with 30 assists and 23 digs, and Custodio
recorded a match-high 15 kills.
The see-saw tone of the match was established right away, as there were seven ties and three lead changes in the opening set. Maritime had a 23-17 advantage late in the set, but Five Towns scored seven straight points to pull ahead 24-23. The Privateers fought off that set point and another at 25-24 before earning four set point opportunities of their own. However, the Sound responded each time. Finally, on its third set point, Five Towns finished off the frame, 31-29.
It was more of the same in the second set, as the teams traded scoring runs. Five Towns jumped ahead 16-12 before the Privateers countered with a 7-1 spurt to go up 19-17. The Sound reached set point at 24-21, but a service error followed by two straight Maritime kills leveled the score at 24-24. A Five Towns hitting error gave the Privateers their first set point chance, and that was all they would need, as Custodio slammed a kill to wrap up the set, 26-24, and level the match.
Maritime scored the first four points of the third set and never looked back. After the Privateers extended their advantage to seven points at 18-11, Five Towns went on a 7-2 rally to cut its deficit to two, 20-18. However, Maritime rattled off the next three points to bring the margin back to five, 23-18, and the Privateers won the set by a 25-21 count to take a 2-1 lead in the match.
For Five Towns, Emely Ramos led the way with 11 kills to go along with 10 assists, eight service aces and two blocks. Hailey Neumann also had a double-double with 15 assists and 16 digs. Brianna Marmolejos added 16 digs, while Emily Angelastro registered 14 digs.
After starting the season with three straight home matches, Maritime will play its next seven contests on the road. The Privateers (0-0 Skyline) open their Skyline Conference schedule with a 6 p.m. matchup at Mount St. Vincent (6-5, 0-1 Skyline) on Wednesday night.
