Women's Volleyball 10/1/2016 12:00:00 AM

Seahawk Volleyball Sweeps Competition at Eastern Mennonite Tri-Match

Box Score 1 | Box Score 2

For Immediate Release · By Nairem Moran · nmoran@smcm.edu

Harrisonburg, Va. – The St. Mary's College of Maryland volleyball team snapped a three-match skid with a pair of wins Saturday afternoon at the Eastern Mennonite University tri-match. St. Mary's started the day with a sweep of Guilford College (25-21, 25-15, 26-24) before rallying for a 3-1 (18-25, 25-17, 25-21, 25-22) win over Eastern Mennonite to end the day.

St. Mary's (Md.) 3, Guilford 0 (25-21, 25-15, 26-24)

How It Happened

St. Mary's dropped the first point of the match but then opened up a 15-6 advantage to take a 25-21 win in the first set, ending on a kill by senior captain Alli Graf (Annapolis, Md./Broadneck).
The Seahawks turned around a 6-3 deficit and built a 23-14 lead, closing out the second set with consecutive attacking miscues by Guilford.
Guilford erased an 18-11 deficit by winning 12 of the next 21 points to stake a 23-20 lead forcing St. Mary's to call a timeout.
After the timeout, three Quaker errors and kills by A. Graf and junior Brigid Morris (Bethesda, Md./Walter Johnson) put the Seahawks back in the driver's set with a 25-24 lead in the third. Sophomore outside hitter Meghan Kelley (Ellicott City, Md./Centennial) put down the game-winning kill.

For The Seahawks (13-7)

Kelley (14 kills, 2 digs); Mimi Graf (36 assists, 5 kills, 4 digs); Marissa Dangler (15 digs, 2 service aces); A. Graf (14 digs, 8 kills, 2 service aces); Carissa Hill (12 digs, 2 assists); Meghan Griffiths (10 digs, season-best 2 assists).
St. Mary's hit .157 for the match with six service aces and 3.0 team blocks.

For Guilford (7-9)

Jessica Sheek (13 kills, 3 block assists, 2 digs); Tina Eucker (19 assists, 7 digs); Christian Ritter (16 digs, 2 service aces); Casey Davis (11 digs, 8 kills, 4 block assists, 2 assists, 2 service aces).
The Quakers attacked at a .077 clip with four service aces and 11.5 team blocks.

St. Mary's (Md.) 3, Eastern Mennonite 1 (18-25, 25-17, 25-21, 25-22)

How It Happened

The Seahawks faced an early 1-0 deficit in the match as Eastern Mennonite posted a 25-18 win in the first set behind four kills each from senior Becca Hardy (Port Republic, Va./Eastern Mennonite) and sophomore Maria Yoder (Manheim, Pa./Hempfield).
After trading the first 15 points of the second set, St. Mary's began its rally as the Seahawks established a 17-12 advantage, forcing an EMU timeout, and closed out the win on an 8-5 run.
The turning point of the third set was at 18-16 when a Morris kill sparked an 8-2 run to give her team a 24-20 advantage. A Kelley kill sealed the set win and a 2-1 match lead.
St. Mary's controlled the fourth set from the opening serve and rolled to a 20-12 lead. The Royals pulled within one after winning 10 of the next 13 points before a kill by senior setter Mimi Graf (Annapolis, Md./Broadneck) and an EMU bad set ended the match.

For the Seahawks (14-7)

Kelley (18 kills, 7 digs); A. Graf (19 digs, 16 kills, 4 assists, 3 service aces); M. Graf (career-best 42 assists, 14 digs); Marissa Dangler (21 digs).
St. Mary's tallied a .184 attack percentage with six service aces and 4.0 team blocks.

For Eastern Mennonite (9-9)

Janna Williams (14 kills); Yoder (18 digs, 10 kills, 5 service aces); Jasmine Johnson (36 assists, 9 digs, 3 kills); Skyler Johnson (34 digs, 3 assists); Cheyenne Herbrandt (11 digs); Ginny Sorrell (11 digs, 3 assists).
The Royals posted a .131 hitting percentage with eight service aces and 10.0 blocks.

Notes

Senior setter Mimi Graf (Annapolis, Md./Broadneck) dished out a career-best 42 assists in the win over Eastern Mennonite while recording her 13th double-double of the season as well with 14 digs.

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