KINGS POINT, N.Y. (Nov. 14, 2024) – The USMMA women's volleyball team came out victorious in a thrilling five-set Skyline Semifinals match at home against the St. Joseph's-Long Island Golden Eagles on Thursday night, and will now play for a Skyline Conference Title for the sixth time in eight seasons. The Mariners are now 19-8 on the season, while the Eagles finish their campaign at 15-11.
 
Match Links

• Box Score
• WATCH: Postgame Interview With Elizabeth Kay 

Freshman Sophia Murray  (Conroe, Texas) delivered 15 kills for the Mariners, with sophomore Erin Stillinger (Keller, Texas.) chipping in 11 more. Senior Elizabeth Kay (Charleston, W. Va.) and freshman Jenny Dyke (Grand Rapids, Mich.) each recorded nine kills. Defensively, senior Virginia Robert (Lynchburg, Va.) paced all Mariners with 27 digs, Murray had 26, and freshman Sydney Douglas (Herndon, Va.) dug out 20 balls herself. First-year Kylie Creech (Osceola, Ind.) and sophomore Alexa Tipps (Palmdale, Calif.) each dished out 22 assists.
 
Merchant Marine raced out to a 10-4 lead to start the match, with five different Mariners recording at least one kill in that stretch. The Golden Eagles rallied with four straight points of their own to trim the KP lead to 10-8, but that would be as close as they got in the first set where Merchant Marine won 25-16.
 
With their backs against the wall, St. Joseph's -Long Island opened the third set with a 8-4 burst. Merchant Marine hit back and brought themselves to within three points, but still trailed 11-8. The Eagles then rattled off a 9-5 run in the middle chunk of the third set, putting themselves back up by seven points at 19-12, and ultimately extended their season by winning the set 25-20.
 
Armed with some momentum now, St. Joe's came out on fire in the fourth set and snagged an early 6-1 advantage. That seemed to spark something in Tony Nocera's Mariner squad, who then rattled off eight straight points to flip the scoreboard in favor of King's Point, 9-6. USMMA continued their strong play and pushed that advantage out to 15-10 at one point, before the Golden Eagles found an extra gear. They rallied for a 6-1 spell of their own to tie the fourth set at 16, and the two sides knotted up again at 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 24, and 25 in some of the most intense action of the season for Merchant Marine. Ultimately, St. Joseph's blasted home two final points to win set four, and send the match to a decisive fifth set.
 
With a berth in the championship on the line, neither side could pull away to begin the final set. The Mariners and Golden Eagles found themselves tied at 1-1, all the way through 7-7 in the first half of the fifth set. But after the draw at 7-7, Merchant Marine got three huge kills from Kay in a 7-1 run to set themselves up for match point, at 14-8. Of course, St. Joe's rattled off four straight points, driving the drama higher and higher inside Liebertz Gymnasium. But finally, a Golden Eagle shot sailed long, and USMMA won the set 15-12 to advance to the Skyline Championship.
 
For the Golden Eagles in defeat, Nina Vanderhoof paced them with 17 kills, Jackie Wolf had 14, and Luciana D'Ambrosio had 10 kills. The senior libero Sarah Montefusco paced the team with 28 digs.
 
The Mariners will take on the two-time defending champions Manhattanville on Saturday, Nov. 16 at the Valiants' Kennedy Gymnasium, in Purchase, N.Y. The match gets underway at 1 p.m. with coverage on USMMASports.com.
 
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