NEWBURGH, N.Y. – After a scare in the first set, the No. 3 seed Mount Saint Mary College women's volleyball team (19-16) won the final three sets for a 3-1 (15-25, 25-17, 25-18, 25-14) victory over No. 4 Maritime College (12-15) in Wednesday evening's Skyline Conference Championship First-Round matchup at the Kaplan Center. The Knights advance to Friday evening's semifinal against No. 2 St. Joseph's College (L.I.), which will take place at Purchase College as part of the Second Annual Skyline Conference Fall Festival.
The Privateers, playing in their first-ever Skyline Conference Championship tournament match, came out firing in the first set for what looked like an easy 25-15 victory. The Knights quickly regained their composure, flying out of the gate to take a 4-0 lead in the second set. Maritime fought back to trail by just a point at 12-11, but the Knights managed to keep their distance for a 25-17 win to tie up the match.
The third frame went back-and-forth for a while, featuring six tie scores and four lead changes. The Knights took the lead for good after breaking a 9-9 tie to eventually grab a 25-18 win to take control of the match at 2-1. The Knights looked dominant in the fourth and final set of Wednesday's quarterfinal match, never trailing in the game en route to a 25-14 win to advance deeper into the Skyline Playoffs.
Senior middle blocker
Natalie Candarelli (Cortlandt Manor, N.Y.) led the Knights with eight kills and a .444 hitting percentage in the match. She also tied for the team-high with five block-assists with freshman middle blocker
Jennifer Bones (Camden, Del.). Sophomore setter
Claire Scully (Bloomfield, N.J.) had a team-high 18 assists, while freshman libero
Chelsea Barberan (Fishkill, N.Y.) picked up 19 digs in three sets. The Knights combined for an outstanding 11.0 total blocks in the match.
Carly Lombardo, Shannon Brady and Gabrielle Kempski all tied for a match-high 12 kills to lead the Privateers on Wednesday. Lombardo and Christine McCormack also tied with 16 assists. Four different Privateers registered double-digit digs, led by Sydney Carella's 23.
The Knights advance to the Skyline Conference Championship Semifinals, where they will face off with No. 2 seed and defending champion St. Joseph's (L.I.). The Knights and Golden Eagles had a thrilling five-set match at the Kaplan Center back on Oct. 11, in which the Golden Eagles came out on top with a 15-9 win in the final set. The Knights and Eagles will play in the later match of Friday's semifinal round, which will begin at approximately 7 p.m. at Purchase College.
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