Volleyball Finishes 1-1 at USJ Tri-Match

WEST HARTFORD, Conn.—The Anna Maria College volleyball team extended their winning streak to seven matches with a 3-1 win over the University of Saint Joseph before seeing that streak come to an end with a hardfought 3-2 loss to Emmanuel in Saturday's Great Northeast Athletic Conference tri-match action.

With today's results, Anna Maria improves to 9-6 overall and 2-1 in GNAC play.

MATCH ONE: ANNA MARIA 3, USJ 1

The first set was a back and forth affair throughout with both teams getting clutch point after clutch point, but it was the Blue Jays who would bear down the stretch to come away with a 25-23 opening set victory. The set featured the score being tied 12 different times and saw the lead change hands seven different times as neither team would lead by more than three points throughout the entire set.

The Blue Jays would take the largest lead of the set after freshman Amber Langlois hammered home a kill to put USJ up 20-17. The AMCATS would come back to tie it 23-23, but a kill by freshman Shytasia Williams followed by a solo block from senior Cassandra Grimaldi would seal the 25-23 victory.

The next three sets would be all Anna Maria however, as the Blue Jays could not keep the momentum rolling after the clutch opening set win. AMC raced out to an early 8-0 lead in the second set and would never look back as they would go on to win the set 25-14 to even the match at 1-1. Tierney Clancy (Meriden, Conn.) had a pair of service aces and a kill during the early run to pull the visitors out front.

In the third set, USJ looked to regain its form and both teams battled back and forth in the early going. Knotted at 6-6, Anna Maria used a quick 4-0 spurt to take a 10-6 lead, but following a USJ timeout the Blue Jays refocused and we able to fight back and tie the match 13-13. That would be as close as the Blue Jays would get for the remainder of the set though as the AMCATS closed out the set on a 12-4 run to take the third set 25-17.

MATCH TWO: EMMANUEL 3, ANNA MARIA 2

The AMCATS saw their seven-match winning streak come to a close against Emmanuel.

Emmanuel jumped out to an early 1-0 lead in the match with a 25-15 first set win only to drop the next two frames. With their backs against the wall, the Saints rallied for a 25-16 win in the fourth set by combining to hit .600 as a team in the set (12 kills, 0 errors, 20 attempts).

In the decisive fifth set, Emmanuel took an early 5-2 lead but the AMCATS clawed back to go ahead 7-6 midway through the action. Emmanuel answered with consecutive points to regain the 8-7 lead on a kill by senior middle hitter Kaitlyn Atkinson (Brookline, N.H.). Emmanuel pushed ahead 13-10 only for Anna Maria to tie the set at 13-all but a kill by sophomore outside hitter Mary Shelow (Miami, Fla.) followed by an Anna Maria hitting error wrapped up the EC victory.

Junior Rebecca Foti (Bedford, N.H.) and sophomore Amari King (Lawrence, Mass.) combined for all 52 of Anna Maria's kills in the match as King finished with 28 and Foti 24. Rookie setter Tierney Clancy (Meriden, Conn.) dished out 51 helpers for the AMCATS, setting a new program-record for assists in a match.

WHAT'S NEXT

The AMCATS will look to return to the wins column on Tuesday as they host MCLA in a 7:00 p.m. non-conference match. They will also travel to Eastern Nazarene on Wednesday for a 7:00 p.m. match.