ATKINSON, SHELOW LEAD SAINTS TO HARD-FOUGHT WIN

BOSTON, Mass. – Emmanuel College senior tri-captain Kaitlyn Atkinson (Brookline, N.H.) tallied 15 kills and sophomore Mary Shelow (Miami, Fla.) added 13 more to lead the Saints (2-10) to a thrilling five-set victory over Maine Maritime (4-3) on Friday evening.

Atkinson led the Saints in kills, while Shelow led the match with a .265 hitting percentage. Senior Gillian O'Neal (Burbank, Calif.) led the match with 16 kills, despite the losing effort.

SET #1

Neither team was able to find an offensive groove in the early stages of the set, as the sides traded service errors and hitting errors out of the gates.

The Mariners opened things up a bit after a kill by freshman Sydney Adams (Trumbull, Conn.) and a block by O'Neal and freshman MaryEllyn Musselman (West Friendship, Md.) made it 12-6 and forced Emmanuel head coach Denitra Seals to use her first timeout.

More Mariners miscues and kills by freshmen Marissa Cataldo (Melrose, Mass.) and Samantha DeMarco (Rockland, Mass.) allowed the Saints to pull within two at 16-14 and caused Mariners coach Tricia Carver to reciprocate the timeout for her own squad.

DeMarco earned another kill out of the timeout to spark an 8-4 run, giving the Saints a 22-20 edge.

Kills by Adams and sophomore Tess Clark (Spring, Texas), combined with two Emmanuel errors, gave the Mariners a set point at 24-23, but the Saints responded to take the set with three straight points off of two Shelow kills and one by Cataldo.

SET #2

The second set began much like the first, with multiple service errors and a 3-3 tie in the early going. For the second straight set, the Mariners opened up a slight lead at 9-5 after an O'Neal kill. The lead was short lived though, as the Saints rattled off nine of the next 14 points and evened the set at 14 all.

The Mariners scored four of six points, including two Clark kills, and looked to take control of the set with a 18-16 lead, but from there, Atkinson took charge.

Coming out of a timeout trailing 18-17, Emmanuel's senior tri-captain recorded five kills in a span of nine points to push the Saints to a 23-21 lead. Then, DeMarco knocked down a kill and Clark made ball-handling error, giving the Saints the set at 25-21.

SET #3

Maine Maritime went wire-to-wire in the fourth set, beginning and ending the set with kills by Musselman.

The Mariners refused to go down easily, starting the third set ahead 8-4. The Saints scored three consecutive points, but momentum continued to shift as the Mariners regained a four-point edge at 12-8, prompting an Emmanuel timeout.

After the Mariners opened up a 14-9 lead, the Saints used three errors and a Cataldo kill to narrow the lead to one. That was as close as the hosts would get, as Adams' ace triggered a strong 11-4 run that eventually buried the Saints and kept the visitors in the match.

At the finish, Musselman and freshman Maggie McMahon (Boise, Id.) teamed up for a block to set up set point, and then Musselman ended a long rally with a set-ending kill.

SET #4

The fourth set again featured the Mariners building an early lead, only to have Emmanuel battle back to take a 9-8 lead after a Cassie Chruscielski (Duluth, Minn.) kill.

The squads traded points until the 14-14 mark when freshman Hannah Butland (Cumberland, Me.) served up an ace to put the Mariners ahead. Two EC attack errors made the Mariners' lead three and caused Seals to call a timeout.

The Saints took advantage of the break, tallying three straight points and tying the set at 17. But, after a Katharine Journeay (Hampton, N.H.) service error, the Mariners' killer instinct kicked in and the visitors closed out the set on an 8-4 run, capped off by another kill by Adams.

SET #5

The Saints waited for the final set to come out of the gates strong, scoring the first point of the set for the only time all night. Shelow picked up three kills in a span of seven points and EC grabbed a 6-2 lead, pushing Maine Maritime to use a timeout.

The timeout turned out to be a smart move, as the Mariners scored four in a row and eight of ten points to go up 10-8 after a DeMarco error.

Five points later, after another kill by Shelow, the teams found themselves tied at 12 in the deciding set. The Miami native drilled another kill and Adams made an attack error to give the Saints a match point with sophomore Carly Church (Higganum, Conn.) behind the line.

Church stepped up and rattled off an ace to send the Emmanuel College Gymnasium into a frenzy and give the Saints a hard-fought five-set victory.

KEY STATS

Church and DeMarco combined for 41 assists, while Church also added a pair of aces. Senior tri-captain Sarah Schemerhorn (Los Angeles, Calif.) picked up 24 digs and was backed up by Journeay (16) and Chruscielski (15). Cataldo tallied a career-high 11 kills in the win, along with seven digs, an ace, and an assist.

Sophomore Melissa Spaulding (Fairbanks, Alaska) led the Mariners with 21 of the team's 39 assists. Spaulding (10) was also one of four Mariners with double-digit digs. Freshman Maria Perez (San Juan, P.R.) led the team with 23 pickups.

WHAT'S NEXT?

 The Saints take the victory into GNAC play as they visit Mount Ida for the conference opener on Wednesday night at 6:00 p.m. The Mariners will stay in Massachusetts for the seventh annual Maritime Classic with Merchant Marine, Mass. Maritime, and Maritime (N.Y.) on Saturday and Sunday.