PURCHASE, N.Y. (Nov. 9, 2023) – The #3-seed USMMA women's volleyball team lost its Skyline Semifinal matchup to #2-seed St. Joseph's-Long Island, 3-2, on Thursday night up at Manhattanville's Kennedy Gymnasium. The scores of the match were 25-23, 15-25, 20-25, 25-17 and 17-15.
 
The Mariners close out the 2023 season with a 14-12 record, while the Golden Eagles improve to 16-10 and move on to face the top-seeded Valiants back in Purchase on Saturday for the Skyline title.
 
Match Link

• Box Score 

Three Mariners recorded double-digit kill efforts, with senior Meredith Buchanan (Kathleen, Ga.) leading the Mariners with 18 kills, while classmate Brittany Breland (Bryan, Texas) had 13 and freshman Erin Stillinger (Keller, Texas) chipped in with 11 kills.
 
The defense was strong, as five different players picked up 10-or-more digs, led by sophomore libero Stephanie Schatzman (Virginia Beach, Va.) who had 34. Freshman Alexa Tipps (Palmdale, Calif.), Buchanan and Breland all registered double-doubles on the night, as Tipps dished out 41 assists to go along with 15 digs, Buchanan added 14 digs and Breland dug out 11. Junior Elizabeth Kay (Charleston, W.Va.) rounded out the Mariners with double-digit digs with 12.
 
Each squad opened the semifinal match strong with momentum shifting between both sides. With the score knotted at 21, the Golden Eagles claimed the next three points to go ahead 24-21. The Mariners got back-to-back points, but a ball-handling error sealed the 25-23 win in favor of St. Joseph's
 
USMMA responded quickly in set two grabbing an early 7-2 lead. The Mariners would maintain their distance to even the match with a 25-15 win
 
Set three saw five lead changes and 11 tied scores before a 4-0 run in favor of USMMA secured a 25-20 victory and a 2-1 match lead
 
On the brink of elimination, the Golden Eagles broke away from the Mariners with a 5-0 streak midway through the fourth set, 19-13, before pushing the match to a decisive fifth set with a 25-17 win
 
Tied at 8-8 in the final frame, momentum started to move in favor of the Mariners with six of the following nine points going in their favor to set up their first match-point chance, 14-11. Back-to-back kills kept SJLI alive before an attack error by USMMA evened the score at 14-14. A Mariner kill set up their third match-point opportunity, but a potential match-winning attack sailed long moving the score to 15-15. St. Joe's would go on to knock down back-to-back kills and secure the set 17-15 and the 3-2 match win.
 
For the Golden Eagles, senior Madison Gremli led all players with a career-high 22 kills and finished with 13 digs and a pair of blocks. Junior Jackie Wolf recorded a double-double of 12 kills and 14 digs. Junior libero Sarah Montefusco collected a career-best 31 digs. Senior setter Katie D'Angelo finished with a career-high 46 assists and 22 digs
 
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