Volleyball Swept as Regular Season Comes to an End
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | T | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Mitchell (5-17 (5-9 GNAC)) | 25 | 22 | 17 | 28 | 1 |
|
Emmanuel (Mass.) (16-9 (9-5 GNAC)) | 21 | 25 | 25 | 30 | 3 |
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | T | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Mitchell (7-18 (5-10 GNAC)) | 18 | 20 | 12 | 0 |
|
Saint Joseph's (Me.) (13-15 (9-5 GNAC)) | 25 | 25 | 25 | 3 |
BOSTON, Mass. – The Mitchell College women's volleyball team lost both matches of a GNAC tri-match on Saturday, dropping a 3-1 decision to Emmanuel College in their opener, before falling in straight sets against Saint Joseph's College (ME) at the Jean Yawkey Center.
After the Mariners won the opening set of the day, 25-21 over Emmanuel, the Saints bounced back and took the second and third stanza by scores of 25-22 and 25-17.
This set up a marathon fourth set where the two squads traded leads down the stretch. After a pair of kills by junior Bliss Brown (Rainbow City, Ala.) and a service ace by sophomore Julia Lent (Miller Place, N.Y.), the Mariners found themselves in a match point scenario with the score 24-22. Emmanuel's Kason Huynh answered with a kill and then an ace of her own to knot the score, but she then followed with a service error to put Mitchell back on top, 25-24. The Saints would notch the next two points on a kill by Seana Phillips and a service ace, but following a Mitchell timeout, Brown ripped off back to back kills, giving the Mariners the 27-26 edge. Emmanuel proceeded to score the next two, giving them a one-point lead, but again it was Brown, this time picking up a kill to tie the set at 28 all. Unfortunately for the Mariners, that would be the last point they scored in the match, as the Saints tallied two consecutive points to take the win, one on a kill by Isabella Marquez and the other on a bad set.
Brown paced the Mariners offensive attack, finishing with a match-high 24 kills to go along with 14 defensive digs. Junior Allison Blum (Garden Grove, Cali.) added 19 kills and a team-best 22 digs, while sophomore Jenna Blankenship (Virden, Ill.) added 20 assists and 17 digs, and Lent tacked on 14 digs.
Isabella Marquez finished with 14 kills for Emmanuel, Paula Tanguilig was credited with 28 digs, and Brigid Moriarty dished out 24 assists in the win.
After a competitive first match, the Mariners struggled to gain much traction against the Monks, falling by set scores of 25-18, 25-20, and 25-12.
Once again it was the junior Bliss Brown who powered the offense, leading the team with 14 kills. It marked the 16th time this fall Brown finished with double-digit kills, and the she wraps up the regular season with 356 kills, shattering the individual season record in the Division III era of the program, which had been 246. Her 3.75 kills per set average also sets a program record, topping Amanda Garcia, who averaged 3.08 kills per set during the 2013 season.
Blum added nine kills and and 10 digs for the Mariners against SJC, while Blankenship dished out 22 assists, and Lent had 16 digs. Blum's individual season total of 250 kills vaults her into second place on the all-time list, trailing just her teammate, Bliss Brown. Lent, meanwhile, concludes the season with 406 digs, moving her into the top spot in program history for an individual season.
Victoria Briones led the Monks with 13 kills and 17 digs, while Abby Jerome added 16 digs, and Kailyn Chamberlin contributed 18 assists.
The Mariners wrap up their regular season with a 7-18 overall record (5-10 GNAC). The Monks (13-15, 9-5 GNAC) will wrap up their regular season when they face Emmanuel College later on Saturday.
