BROOKLYN, NY – The Maritime College volleyball team battled back from a two-sets-to-none deficit to force a fifth set at St. Joseph's Brooklyn on Tuesday night. The Privateers (3-15, 1-4 Skyline) dropped the final set, however, and the Bears (6-6, 2-1 Skyline) came away with a 25-19, 25-12, 14-25, 23-25, 15-9 victory at the Hill Center.
After falling behind 2-0 in the match, Maritime dominated the third set. The Privateers scored the first three points of the frame, then used a 17-5 spurt to turn a 3-2 lead into a 20-7 advantage. St. Joseph's Brooklyn responded with a 6-2 run to pull within 22-13 before Maritime closed out a 25-14 win on a
Lara Cocis (Coeur d'Alene, ID) kill. The Privateers hit .474 in the set, smashing 10 kills and committing just one error in 19 attempts.
Maritime continued that solid hitting in the fourth set. The Privateers had 19 kills in the frame, their most for a set this season, and notched a .425 hitting percentage (two errors in 40 attempts). Maritime was unable to pull away however, as there were 12 tie scores during the stanza.
Ashley Pavarini (Ossining, NY) snapped the last of those deadlocks with a kill that brought the Privateers to set point.
Mikaela Thiel (Fort Morgan, CO) followed with a kill of her own to cap a 25-23 set win and send the match into a decisive frame.
However, the Bears opened the final set by taking three of the first four points. After Maritime rallied to tie it at 4-4, St. Joseph's Brooklyn went on an 8-2 run to open up a 12-6 advantage. The Privateers got back within 13-9, but the Bears captured the final two points to clinch the set, 15-9, and finish off a 3-2 triumph.
Three different players posted a double-double for Maritime.
Laci Werner (New York, NY) had 16 kills on .375 hitting to go along with 12 kills. Pavarini hit .375 with 14 kills, and she added a team-high 15 digs. Thiel, meanwhile, recorded 34 assists and 14 digs.
Joan Anastasiades (Rockaway Beach, NY) also collected 14 digs, as the Privateers held a 70-48 edge in that category.
In the first set, St. Joseph's Brooklyn built an early 4-1 advantage before Maritime rallied to take a 7-6 lead. After the Bears used a 9-3 spurt to pull ahead 15-10, the Privateers responded with four of the next five points to reduce their deficit to 16-14. However, St. Joseph's Brooklyn countered with five straight points to push the margin back to seven at 21-14. The Bears claimed the set by a 25-19 count.
St. Joseph's Brooklyn then hit .312 (11-1-32) in the second set. Maritime went ahead 4-2 before the Bears secured six of the next seven points to go up 8-5. The Privateers forced a 9-9 deadlock on a Thiel kill, but St. Joseph's Brooklyn countered with a 14-2 run to build a 23-11 cushion. With a 25-12 set win, the Bears took a 2-0 lead in the match.
Carissa Zwiefelhofer led the way for St. Joseph's Brooklyn with 12 kills, 15 assists, nine digs and four service aces. Abigail Encinia, meanwhile, finished with 11 kills, 21 assists, eight digs and seven aces. Juliette DiVittorio contributed a team-high 12 digs to go along with three aces for the Bears.
Five of Maritime's seven remaining matches are at Riesenberg Gymnasium. The Privateers begin the stretch by hosting Sarah Lawrence (17-2, 3-0 Skyline) at 6 p.m. on Thursday.
