Volleyball Puts Up a Fight against Undefeated Blue Jays

WEST HARTFORD, Conn.—Tiffany Mapusaga totaled 21 kills and 16 digs to lead the University of Saint Joseph volleyball team to a 3-1 win against the visiting AMCATS of Anna Maria College on Tuesday evening in Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) action.

The win bumps USJ to 13-3 overall and 6-0 in GNAC play, while the loss drops the AMCATS to 11-10 overall and 2-5 in league competition.

The AMCATS were in each game, and forced extra points in two separate sets. The Blue Jays took a 2-0 lead following 28-26 and 25-23 wins before the AMCATS rallied for a 26-24 win in game three. The Blue Jays outlasted Anna Maria in the fourth set, 25-19.

In addition to Mapusaga, the Blue Jays saw eight kills from Ciara Perez and seven kills from Emily Vigue. Megan Williams dished out 39 assists.

The Anna Maria offense was led by a pair of freshmen, as GNAC Co-Rookie of the Week, Rebecca Foti (Bedford, N.H.) and classmate Telliah Bursie (Cheektowaga, N.Y.) combined for 18 kills with nine apiece. Junior Jessica Goulet (Lawrence, Mass.) chipped in with eight kills, followed by senior Jacqueline Clinton (Walpole, Mass.) with seven kills. Junior Samantha Parker (Athol, Mass.) dished out 33 assists.

Defensively, the AMCATS had five different players reach double-digits in digs, led by Clinton with 16. Parker and junior Brittany Jackson (Larchmont, N.Y.) both totaled 13 digs, followed by Foti with 12 and Brianna LaRegina (Troy, N.Y.) with 10. Bursie aided the defense with four blocks.

USJ had two other people reach double-figures in digs; Justine Walicki finished with 18, while Williams had 16.

Anna Maria fought off two set-points and USJ won in a tense opening set before Perez had a put-away on the final point to give USJ a 1-0 lead. Mapusaga had a dominant second set with seven kills and eight digs and again Anna Maria fought off one set point before Perez again put down another Williams assist for the clincher and a 2-0 Blue Jay lead.

USJ had a match point at 24-23 in the third, but Foti had a kill to keep the AMCATS alive. She then served two points to win the game and cut the Blue Jays' lead to one, 2-1. The two teams were tied seven times on the way to 14-all in the fourth before the Blue Jays slowly edged away.

Vigue had successive aces in a four-point run that gave the Blue Jays a 23-17 advantage on the way to the final set victory.

Anna Maria will be back in on Thursday in a 7:00 p.m. non-conference home match against Worcester State University.