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Mt. St. Mary Knights Knock Off Defending Skyline Champs in Five Sets
Story Courtesy of the MSMC Athletics Site
NEWBURGH, N.Y. – In a pivotal Skyline
Conference match, the Mount Saint Mary College women’s
volleyball team defeated the Polytechnic Institute of NYU in five
sets (30-28, 31-29, 18-25, 23-25, 15-8) on Tuesday evening in the
Kaplan Center. The Knights (7-7) remain unbeaten in conference
place at 4-0, while the Fighting Blue Jays (9-8) dropped to
2-1.
During a very tight first set, Mount Saint Mary won a point on
serve to seize a 23-22 advantage. From there, twelve consecutive
side-outs saw the set move to 29-28. Finally, with sophomore Lauren
Halverson (Patchogue, N.Y.) serving, the Mount capitalized on a set
point and took the opener, 30-28.
NYU-Poly jumped out to a big lead in set two and seemed ready to
run away to a victory with the score at 15-6. Mount sophomore Mary
Ann Raftery (Atlantic Beach, N.Y.) served five consecutive points,
however, bringing the Knights back to within three. Then, trailing
24-19 and facing set point, senior Elizabeth Douress (Rahway, N.J.)
rattled off five consecutive points, the last of which was an ace
that clipped the back line. Now tied at 24-24, the teams went back
and forth several times before Halverson stepped up to serve two
consecutive points and give the Knights a 31-29 victory.
The Fighting Blue Jays weren’t ready to be done just yet,
though, and stormed back into the match by taking the next two
sets. In the deciding set, the Knights jumped out to a 5-0 lead and
forced the switch of ends with the score 8-1. NYU-Poly brought the
set back to 9-5, but would get no closer as the Knights put away
the match with a 15-8 set win.
Junior Courtney Kenney (Hicksville, N.Y.) led the way for the
Mount with 13 kills, five blocks, and 17 digs. Freshman Kaylene
Pennings (Minisink, N.Y.) recorded 12 kills and a team-high 6
blocks, while junior Jacqueline Nadeau (Uniondale, N.Y.) pitched in
with 12 kills and 14 digs. Halverson finished with 46 assists and
10 digs, Douress collected 10 kills and three blocks, and junior
Heather Schaeffer (Hopewell Junction, N.Y.) racked up a team-high
18 digs. Raftery played well (eight kills, seven digs) after
replacing injured junior Teresa Sorrentino (Bellerose, N.Y.) late
in the second set.
The first-place Knights will head to the Salem State Invitational
this weekend to take on Salem State, Southern Maine, and Suffolk.
The tournament is scheduled for a 10:00 a.m. start.
