United States Merchant Marine Academy

KINGS POINT, N.Y. (Sept. 24, 2026) – The USMMA women's volleyball team earned a 3-0 non-conference victory over Hunter College on Thursday night at the Liebertz Gymnasium, winning by scores of 25-16, 25-14 and 25-18. The Mariners improved to 9-1 on the season, while the Hawks fell to 2-4.
 
Match File

• Box Score
• WATCH: Post Match Interview With Candy Saz-Price 

Freshman Candy Saz-Price (Cabot, Ark.) led all players with 12 kills while hitting .333 on 21 attacks, while junior Sydney Douglas (Herndon, Va.) put down seven kills without an error on 15 swings for a .467 hitting percentage. Freshmen Sophie Phillips (Huffman, Texas) and Lanae DuBose (Baytown, Texas) added five kills apiece, with DuBose hitting .556, as USMMA finished the night with 39 kills and a .269 team hitting percentage.
 
Freshman Miranda Zeng (Cupertino, Calif.) quarterbacked the offense with a match-high 27 assists, while fellow plebe Savannah Smith (El Paso, Texas) added eight. Rookie Anna Kelly (Orange, Texas) led all players with five service aces and Douglas added three as the Mariners served up 11 aces as a team. Freshman Jill Sowers (Greensburg, Pa.) aced USMMA with eight digs, while sophomore Brooklyn Branum (Coppell, Texas) added six and Douglas chipped in five.
 
Hunter held an early 4-3 advantage in the opening set before the Mariners began to take control. USMMA scored seven of the next eight points to build a 10-5 lead, with Douglas putting down two kills and serving an ace during the stretch. The Hawks later pulled within two at 11-9, but the Mariners steadily widened the margin and closed out the opener, 25-16.
 
USMMA jumped in front quickly in the second behind consecutive Kelly aces and eventually opened a 9-3 advantage. Leading 13-8, the Mariners got a block from Jenny Dyke (Grand Rapids, Mich.) and Saz-Price before Kelly followed with three-straight aces as part of a five-point run that stretched the lead to 18-8. Hunter never recovered as USMMA rolled to the 25-14 victory and a 2-0 lead in the match.
 
The teams traded points throughout the early portion of the third and were tied at 11-11 before the Mariners scored four straight to move ahead, 15-11. USMMA later used another five-point surge to stretch a 15-12 lead to 20-12, with Douglas serving two aces and DuBose and Erin Stillinger (Keller, Texas) combining for a block during the run. Hunter got back within six late, but Kailey Miller (Plain City, Ohio) delivered the match-clinching kill for the 25-18 victory.
 
The Mariners controlled nearly every major statistical category, finishing with advantages of 39-24 in kills, 11-3 in service aces, 44-36 in digs and 5-2 in total blocks. USMMA also outhit Hunter, .269-.041, and was especially efficient in the third set with 15 kills against just two errors for a .342 hitting percentage.
 
For Hunter, River Sutch led the Hawks with seven kills and six digs, while Melissa Alfaro recorded five kills on nine swings for a .556 hitting percentage. Sofia Marolla handed out a team-high 18 assists and Maya Cosmo collected a match-high 12 digs, while Kassidy Cruz Nuesi served two of Hunter's three aces.
 
The Mariners return to action on Saturday, Sept. 26, with a pair of neutral-site matches at the SUNY New Paltz Challenge Tournament. USMMA will take on Alfred at 1:15 p.m. before facing Moravian at 3:30 p.m.
 
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