Women’s Volleyball Sweeps Mass. Maritime, 3-0

Paxton, Mass. – The Anna Maria College women's volleyball team played their best match of the early season with an efficient offense and a tough defense as the downed the visiting Buccaneers of Massachusetts Maritime Academy, 3-0 to earn their first win of the season at Fuller Activities Center on Thursday evening.

The AMCATS scored the sweep with back-to-back games of 25-9 and a third match mark of 25-11. With the win the AMCATS improve to 1-2, while MMA dips to 0-1.

Anna Maria registered 30 kills and hit a season-high .243 while also holding the Buccaneers to a -.211 attack percentage and just three kills. Senior Kayla Cummings (Auburn, ME) posted a game-high 8 kills with 3 aces and a dig, while classmate Alex Rodrigues (Puerto Rico) had a game-high five aces with five digs and four kills on the night.

Second-year player Samantha Parker (Athol, Mass.) was all over the court, hitting a robust .833 with five kills while dishing out a game-high 21 assists with 4 digs. It was Parker's third straight match of 20+ helpers. Freshman Michelle Connolly (Quincy, Mass.) contributed with a team-high seven digs.

The AMCATS came out strong in the first set, scoring seven of the first ten points en route to a 7-3 lead. After a service miscue awarded MMA a point, AMC registered five straight points midway through the set to grab a 12-4 advantage behind the serving of Alyssa Haberman (Boca Raton, Fla).The AMCATS kept pressing, and finished off the set with nine straight points, including the final on a service ace by Connolly for the 25-9 victory.

In the second, MMA scored the first point of the game; however Anna Maria notched 12 of the next 14 points to open up a commanding 12-3 lead. Five consecutive points pushed the lead to 17-5 and the AMCATS cruised to the 25-9 win.

Coach Shomo changed up her line-up in the third game and the result was still the same. MMA opened up a 2-1 advantage but three straight points by AMC quickly made it a 4-2 game. The AMCATS played a dominating defense, holding the Bucs to just six points over the next twenty three serves to push the lead to 21-9. Anna Maria claimed the match on a defensive error to score the victory.

Anna Maria returns to action on Saturday afternoon when they travel to Bay Path College for the rare quad-match. Anna Maria will face New Rochelle at 10:00 am, Bay Path at 12:00 pm and Pine Manor at 2:00 pm.