KINGS POINT, N.Y. (Oct. 15, 2026) – The USMMA women's volleyball team sent its two seniors out with a victory on Thursday night, overcoming a shaky start before sweeping St. Joseph's-Brooklyn, 25-19, 25-13 and 25-18, on Senior Night inside the Liebertz Gymnasium. The Mariners improved to 16-2 overall and remained perfect in Skyline Conference play at 7-0, while the Bears fell to 6-7 (2-2 Skyline).
Match Files
Senior
Erin Stillinger (Keller, Texas) delivered one of her best performances of the season on her Senior Night, putting down a match-high 10 kills with just one error on 13 swings for a .692 hitting percentage. Fellow senior
Alexa Tipps (Palmdale, Calif.) finished with five digs and two assists.
Junior
Sydney Douglas (Herndon, Va.) added seven kills without an error on 17 attacks for a .412 hitting percentage, along with five digs and two block assists. Junior
Maddie Mayer (Centennial, Colo.) also recorded seven kills, hitting .600 on 10 swings, and added two block assists. Freshman
Miranda Zeng (Cupertino, Calif.) handed out 25 assists and collected a match-high 10 digs.
The Mariners had to work their way through an uneven opening set. St. Joseph's-Brooklyn jumped out to an 8-4 advantage before USMMA battled back to tie the score at 8-8. The Bears continued to hang around and held leads of 12-10 and 14-13 before Merchant Marine finally moved in front for good. With the score tied at 14-14, Mayer put down consecutive kills to help the Mariners take control, and USMMA eventually closed the set on a 9-4 run for the 25-19 win.
Merchant Marine found its rhythm immediately in the second. The Mariners raced out to a 9-2 advantage and then blew the set open with a six-point run that stretched the lead from 11-4 to 17-4. Freshman
Candy Saz-Price (Cabot, Ark.) was especially effective from the service line during the surge, and USMMA hit .500 as a team in the set before cruising to the 25-13 victory.
The Bears pushed back in the third and held a 10-8 lead before the Mariners scored four straight to move ahead 12-10. St. Joseph's-Brooklyn later erased a 16-12 deficit to tie the score at 16-16, but USMMA answered immediately. The Mariners scored four consecutive points to regain control at 20-16 and never surrendered the lead again, completing the Senior Night sweep with the 25-18 victory.
USMMA finished with 37 kills and a .267 hitting percentage while holding St. Joseph's-Brooklyn to 27 kills and a .101 clip. The Mariners also held advantages of 11-7 in service aces, 40-36 in digs and 9.0-2.0 in blocks. Saz-Price finished with four aces and seven digs, while Rodriguez Fernandez also served four aces. Carissa Zwiefelhofer led the Bears with 11 kills.
Up next, the Mariners will travel to Mount St. Vincent on Saturday, Oct. 17, for another Skyline Conference matchup. First serve is scheduled for 10 a.m. at the Peter Jay Sharp Center.
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