GMC Second at SJC Autumn Classic
(September 12, 2009) - Standish, ME - After racing to a 2-1 lead in the championship match of the St. Joe's (ME) College Autumn Classic against the host Monks Saturday afternoon, the Eagles dropped the final two sets, losing 3-2. The hosts (7-4) claimed the title while the Eagles (2-4) finished as runners-up.
GMC fought valiantly in the title match, despite falling to the Monks 3-0 in a game on Friday night. St. Joe's trailed 2-1 (18-25, 25-21, 19-25) after three sets, but finished strong with 25-14 and 15-5 victories in the final two sets to collect the championship.
The win was a team effort for St. Joe's, as three different players notched at least 10 kills and six registered 10 or more digs. Sarah Hawkes (Pownal, ME) posted a double-double as well with 20 kills and 10 digs, Jordan Pelczar (Meredith, NH) belted 13 kills and Leocadya Koziski (Peabody, MA) had 19 digs. Kiah Begley (Berwick, ME/St. Thomas Aquinas) registered 45 assists and 15 digs, Samantha Varrell (Portsmouth, NH) had 15 digs, Kaleigh McHale (Dracut, MA) posted 14 digs and Cleary added a team-high four kills.
Three players had double-double efforts for the Eagles in a losing effort. Senior Emma Brinley-Buckley (Lakeville, CT) recorded 31 digs and 13 kills, junior Melanie Rodriguez (Hoboken, NJ) notched 23 digs and 10 kills and junior Olesea Cojohari (Balti, Moldova) registered 12 assists and 10 digs to go with 8 kills. Junior Jen McGuire (Nutley, NJ) led the Eagles with 18 assists.
In the first match of the day for GMC, Me.-Machias collected a hard-fought 3-2 victory over the Eagles. The win for the Clippers was their first on their season (1-7). GMC started slowly, dropping the first two sets before battling back to level the match at 2-2. Machias claimed the decisive set 15-10 for the win.
Brinley-Buckley led the way for GMC with 13 kills, 4 aces, and a pair of blocks. Rodriguez recorded 9 kills and five aces while Cojohari tallied 3 service aces.
The Eagles return to action Tuesday September 15th when they visit Norwich University at 7:00 pm.
