United States Merchant Marine Academy

NEW YORK (Sept. 1, 2026) – The U.S. Merchant Marine Academy women's volleyball team served up 14 aces to open its 2026 season with a dominant 3-0 sweep of Baruch College on Tuesday night at the ARC Arena.
 
The Mariners defeated the Bearcats by scores of 25-18, 25-14 and 25-19 to begin the season 1-0. USMMA finished the night with a 33-20 advantage in kills and outhit Baruch, .211 to .025.

Match Link

• Box Score 

Freshman Anna Kelly (Orange, Texas) led the USMMA attack with a match-high nine kills while hitting .350 and adding three service aces. Sophomore Carly Soboloski (Peoria, Ariz.) put down seven kills on 13 attempts with just one error for a .462 hitting percentage and also contributed five digs. Junior Jenny Dyke (Grand Rapids, Mich.) was extremely efficient with four kills on six errorless swings to hit .667, while senior Erin Stillinger (Keller, Texas) added four kills without an attack error. Junior Sydney Douglas (Herndon, Va.) led the Mariners with eight digs, while freshman Miranda Zeng (Cupertino, Calif.) quarterbacked the offense with a match-high 24 assists.
 
The opening set was even through the early stages, with the teams tied at 6-6 before the Mariners began to pull away. Stillinger delivered consecutive service aces to extend USMMA's advantage to 16-11, and Kelly later served two aces during a four-point run that pushed the lead to 20-12. Baruch closed within five at 20-15, but the Mariners kept the Bearcats at arm's length before Dyke finished off the 25-18 victory with a kill.
 
Baruch opened the second set with a 4-1 advantage before USMMA seized control with seven of the next eight points. Douglas sparked the run with a service ace, while Kelly added back-to-back kills as the Mariners moved in front, 8-5. USMMA extended its lead to 14-7 and never allowed the Bearcats to get closer than three the rest of the way. Leading 19-14, the Mariners scored the final six points of the set, with freshman Lanae DuBose (Baytown, Texas) serving for the final five and recording an ace during the closing run, as USMMA rolled to the 25-14 win.
 
The Mariners again had to overcome an early Baruch push in the third. USMMA held a 6-3 edge before the Bearcats answered with five straight points to grab an 8-6 lead. Baruch was still ahead 9-7 when the Mariners rattled off seven consecutive points. Stillinger started the surge with a kill before DuBose took over from the service line, registering three aces during the run as USMMA surged ahead, 14-9.
 
Baruch battled back within one at 19-18, but the Mariners responded immediately. Soboloski and DuBose recorded consecutive kills before Douglas served an ace during a five-point run that brought up match point at 24-18. Stillinger ultimately closed out the sweep with the final kill for the 25-19 victory. USMMA was especially efficient over the opening two sets, hitting .276 in the first and .273 in the second, and doubled up the Bearcats in service aces on the night, 14-7. DuBose led all players with four aces, Kelly added three and Stillinger and Douglas contributed two apiece.
 
For Baruch, Karolina Lundqvist led the attack with six kills, while Ella Wang added four kills and hit .333. Karen Pozo Castro finished with 17 assists, three kills on five attempts for a .600 hitting percentage and three service aces. Ava Tartour also served three aces and shared the team lead with Wang with two block assists, while Pei Qiong Ren led all players with nine digs.
 
Up next, the Mariners will host a tri-match at the Liebertz Gymnasium this Saturday, Sept. 5. They'll take on Suffolk University at 11 a.m., before finishing off the day against Saint Elizabeth at 3 p.m.
 
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