Women’s Volleyball: Lady AMCATS Nipped by Blue Jays

Paxton, Mass. – Junior Ciara Perez (Manchester, NH) finished with a match-best 17 kill as the University of Saint Joseph downed the Anna Maria College AMCATS, 3-0 in Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) women's volleyball action on Thursday evening at Fuller Activities Center.

The Blue Jays (9-15, 3-5 GNAC) defeated the AMCATS (9-13, 1-6 GNAC) in three consecutive sets, 25-22, 25-22, 25-19.

Anna Maria was once again led by sophomore setter Samantha Parker (Athol, Mass.) who dished out 19 assists, with 2 kills, 3 blocks and two digs. Classmate Alyssa Haberman (Boca Raton, FL) added a team-high 6 kills on 9 attempts posting a .667 hitting percentage. Libero Michelle Connolly (Quincy, Mass.) had eleven digs on the back line.

Junior setter Megan Williams (Lakeville, CT) was one shy of thirty assists on the night for the Blue Jays, while junior Elizabeth Tuazon (Mystic, CT) backboned the defense with a game-high 13 digs.

Tied 11-all in the first set, the tandem of Sam Parker and Kayla Cummings (Auburn, ME) put together back-to-back block assists to push the lead to 13-11. However, the Blue Jays took advantage of several AMCAT errors with a 9-2 run to take a 20-15 lead before an AMCAT timeout. Anna Maria battle to close the gap to 24-22 but it wasn't enough as the Blue Jays posted the first game win.

Anna Maria opened up the second game with a 3-0 advantage behind a pair of service aces by Demi Carrero (Mamaroneck, NY) but quickly trailed 15-9 halfway thru the match. Anna Maria regrouped and tied the game 19-19 but USJ would outscore AMC 6-3 down the stretch to take the second set.

The Blue Jays had a commanding 20-10 margin in the last set before Parker would have her hand in five straight points for Anna Maria, but it was too little too late as Saint Joseph rolled to the 25-19 win.

Anna Maria heads to Johnson and Wales University on Saturday afternoon for a tri-match with JWU and Simmons College.