Volleyball Holds Off Albertus for First GNAC Victory

NEW HAVEN, Conn. – The Mitchell College women's volleyball team snapped a six-match losing skid and collected their first victory as a member of the Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC), outlasting Albertus Magnus College in five sets on Wednesday night at the Cosgrove Marcus Messer Athletic Center.

The Mariners won the second set 25-5, the fourth set 25-13, and the deciding set 15-11. They dropped the opening set 25-18 and the third set 25-22.

Junior Bliss Brown (Rainbow City, Ala.) had a career match, registering a collegiate-best 33 kills to go along with 18 digs. The 33 kills sets a record for the most in during an individual match in the Division III era of the program, surpassing Amanda Garcia, who recorded 25 kills against Pratt in September of 2013. 

Senior Sarah Aviles (Griswold, Conn.) matched her season-high with 15 kills, while Allison Blum (Garden Grove, Cali.), Julia Lent (Miller Place, N.Y.), and Jenna Blankenship (Virden, Ill.) each tallied double-digit digs, finishing with 14, 12, and 11 respectively. Blankenship also paced the Mariners by dishing out a match-best 24 assists, and Hannah O'Brien (Riverside, R.I.) was credited with 22 assists, a season-high figure or the senior.

After dropping the opening set, the Mariners stormed back and dominated the second set, scoring four of the first five points highlighted by a pair of kills by Bliss Brown and a service ace by Allison Blum. After the Falcons rebounded with a kill, Mitchell scored nine straight points which led to an Albertus timeout. During the 9-0 stretch, which took the Mariners lead from 4-2 to 13-2, Brown recorded five kills.

Coming out of the timeout Albertus was charged with back-to-back attack errors as the visitor's run continued. The Mariners kept their foot on the gas, as Sarah Aviles then notched a kill, Brown added one of her own, Julia Lent served an ace, and Aviles came back with another kill. The Falcons finally snapped the 15-0 run with a kill by Kanishjoary Marrero-Martinez, but Mitchell scored the next two points and went on to notch the final three points of the set.

The third set saw Mitchell jump out to an early 5-0 lead, but the Falcons kept close on their heels and finally tied the score at 14-14 following a Bliss Brown attack error. Kiersten Veenstra (Three Rivers, MI) responded with a kill to give the Mariners a 15-14 edge, but the Falcons reeled off the next five of six points to pull ahead 18-15. Again, Mitchell responded, scoring four of the next five, a run which included kills by Brown and Blum. With the score back tied, this time at 19-19, Albertus was able to gain momentum, using a kill by Joismar Aviles and a pair of attack errors to climb ahead by three. The Mariners were unable to catch the Falcons again in the set despite pulling to within one, as the home squad scored the final two points to escape the stanza with the victory.

It was all Mariners once again in the fourth set, as they battled back early to tie things up 4-4 and never looked back, immediately scoring five straights points to gain control. A run which saw Mitchell score six of seven pushed their lead to 18-10 and by that point the Mariners would not be denied, closing out the set by scoring the final six points and capping the action on a service ace delivered by Brown.

With the score knotted at 4-4 during the deciding fifth set, Mitchell gained ground as Brown and Aviles went back-to-back with kills to take the lead. Albertus then responded with two quick points to tie the set, but the back-and-forth battle continued as both teams scored twice quick, until an Aviles kill, and an attack error put the Mariners back in control, 10-8. A bad set from Mitchell made it 10-9, an Emily Rizzo (Bethel, Conn.) kill for Mitchell made it 11-9, and an attack error made it 12-9 which then led to an Albertus timeout. Coming out of the timeout, the Falcons suffered a setback with an attack error but answered with two straight points. Another attack error followed to set Mitchell up with match point and Blum brought the match to a conclusion, dishing a service ace to give the Mariners their first conference victory as a member of the GNAC.

Colleen Edwards had a team-high nine kills for Albertus, while Shalese Gordon handed out a team-best 18 assists, and Amanda Zdru led the Falcons with a match-high 33 digs.

The Mariners (3-6, 1-2 GNAC) will look for their second conference win of the season on Friday, September 22nd, when they travel to face Norwich University at 6:00 pm. Albertus (4-6, 0-2 GNAC) is scheduled to return to play with a non-conference tri-match at home on Saturday, September 23rd, hosting Framingham St. and Vermont State Lyndon.