THROGGS NECK, NY – For the first time in seven years, the Maritime College volleyball team has started the season with two wins. The Privateers began their 2025 campaign with a thrilling 16-25, 25-19, 31-29, 21-25, 15-13 victory over Mitchell (1-1) at Riesenberg Gymnasium on Saturday. Maritime (2-0) then notched a 25-21, 25-20, 13-25, 25-17 triumph against Mass Maritime (0-2) in its second match of the day.
In the first set of the Privateers' opening match, Mitchell raced out to a 10-3 lead. Maritime responded with a 6-0 run to pull within 10-9, but the Mariners countered with a 6-2 spurt to make it 16-11. Mitchell took the set by a 25-16 count.
The Privateers then built the early cushion in the second set, jumping out to a 9-2 edge. After the Mariners trimmed their deficit to 17-12, an
Ashley Pavarini (Ossining, NY) kill started a 4-1 rally that extended Maritime's advantage to 21-13. Another kill by Pavarini (her fifth of the set), finished off the frame, 25-19, and leveled the match at 1-1.
There were nine ties and nine lead changes in the third set. Mitchell led 7-2, 14-7 and 18-10 before the Privateers battled all the way back.
Andressa Dias-Moreira (Forest Hills, NY) smacked a kill to cap a 12-3 run and put Maritime in front, 22-21. The Privateers reached set point at 24-23, but the Mariners took the next two points to earn a set point of their own. After a
Lizzie Phillips (Carthage, NY) block gave Maritime its fourth set point opportunity at 30-29, a Mitchell hitting error clinched a 31-29 set win for the Privateers.
It was more of the same in a fourth set that featured six ties and four lead changes. The Mariners went up 6-1 before Maritime claimed 14 of the next 18 points to open up a 15-10 cushion. Mitchell responded with a 9-2 spurt to take a 19-17 lead, then the Privateers regained the advantage, 20-19. However, the Mariners closed the set by earning six of the final seven points, sending the match into a decisive frame with a 25-21 triumph.
Mitchell carried that momentum into the fifth set, tallying the first four points. Maritime responded with a 6-3 spurt to make it 7-6 before taking the lead, 10-9, on an
Addison Weist (Staten Island, NY) service ace. With the score knotted at 13-13,
Grace Devaney (Lynbrook, NY) smacked a kill to set up match point.
Joan Anastasiades (Rockaway Beach, NY) then served an ace to wrap up the 15-13 set win and 3-2 match victory.
Devaney paced the Privateers with 16 kills, while Pavarini posted a triple-double with 15 kills, 27 assists and 13 digs. She also had five aces. Dias-Moreira added 13 kills on .545 hitting to go along with seven digs.
Mikaela Thiel (Fort Morgan, CO) handed out 20 assists, and
Olivia Casabona (Cross River, NY) recorded a match-high 28 digs. Five players reached double-digit digs, as Maritime held a 98-83 edge in that category. Anastasiades contributed 14 digs, Weist notched 12 digs, and
Alexa Nolan (Queens, NY) tallied 11 digs.
Genna Hyde ripped a match-high 26 kills while adding 13 digs and four aces for the Mariners. Cimber Jenkins finished with 12 kills, 12 assists and nine digs, and Jenna Blankenship recorded 17 assists. Ali Ortiz posted 19 digs to go along with six aces, as Mitchell served 19 aces as a team. Julia Lent, meanwhile, registered 28 digs.
Against Mass Maritime,
Emma DeMuro (Mahopac, NY) smacked a kill to break an early 6-6 tie and start a 10-3 Privateers run. The Buccaneers responded by scoring eight of the next 10 points to get back within one, 18-17. It was 20-19 when Maritime used two Devaney kills and a Nolan ace to move within two points of winning the set. The Privateers took the frame by a 25-21 count.
Mass Maritime rattled off five consecutive points at the start of the second set to build a 5-1 edge. The Buccaneers eventually opened up a 16-8 advantage before the Privateers used a 5-0 spurt of their own to trim their deficit to three, 16-13. That's as close as it would get, though, as Mass Maritime leveled the match with a 25-20 second set triumph.
Maritime rebounded early in the third set, scoring eight of the first 11 points. After the Buccaneers pulled within 14-10, a Pavarini kill started a 5-1 run that made it 19-11. The Privateers hit a combined .265 (13 kills, four errors, 34 attempts) in the 25-13 set win that gave them a 2-1 edge in the match.
After the teams traded the first 10 points of the fourth set, Weist was credited with a kill and an ace to give Maritime an 8-6 lead and put the Privateers in front for good. The Buccaneers were still within one at 11-10 when back-to-back kills by Devaney and Pavarini started a 4-0 spurt that extended Maritime's advantage to 15-10. A Pavarini kill brought the Privateers to match point at 24-16, then a Thiel ace finished off the set, 25-17, and the 3-1 victory.
Pavarini recorded her second triple-double of the day and the third of her career with 12 kills, 21 assists and 14 digs. Devaney smacked a match-high 15 digs on .387 hitting, while Weist notched 14 kills and three aces. Thiel finished with 19 assists and nine digs, and Casabona collected 18 digs. Anastasiades added 15 digs for Maritime.
Shayla Narodawg paced the Buccaneers with nine digs. She also posted 10 assists and 13 digs. Natalie Frasca distributed 13 assists, while Holly Sanders had a match-leading 25 digs to go along with three aces. Ashleigh Catlett, meanwhile, contributed 10 digs.
Up next, the Privateers visit Brooklyn (0-0) on Tuesday for a 6 p.m. matchup. It's the only road contest among the first nine matches on Maritime's schedule.
