Buccaneers Rally to Break Lynx in Five Games

Buccaneers Rally to Break Lynx in Five Games

MEDFORD, Mass – Tuesday evening, Buc volleyball traveled to Medford to take on the Lesley Lynx in non-conference play. Maritime fell behind, 2-0, then rallied back to win the match, 3-2. The win snaps a 14-game losing streak, dating back to September 8th.

The Basics

Final: Buccaneers 3, Lynx 2 (21-25, 19-25, 25-22, 27-25, 16-14)

Records: Mass Maritime 2-14 (0-3 MASCAC)

                Lesley 3-9 (0-2 NECC)

For The Bucs

  • Senior Captain Michelle Sheehan (Attleboro, Mass) finished the night with a career-high 10 kills. She added two assists, two service aces, three digs and a solo block.
  • Sophomore Bianca Andronic (Somerset, Mass) posted a career-high 14 assists while tying a career-high in service aces with a match-high six.
  • Senior Captains Christina Ruggeri (Bourne, Mass) and Marie Harrison (Weymouth, Mass) recorded 27 and 22 digs respectively. Ruggeri's 27 were a match-high. Harrison also had four kills, two assists, a service ace and a solo block.
  • The service aces were abundant for the Bucs, 17 combined, including Andronic's six. Ruggeri and freshman Rebecca Cargile (Henderson, Nevada) each had three, while Sheehan and junior Madison Coughlin (Monroe, Conn) each had two apiece.
  • Coughlin was tied for second highest kill total on the team with Andronic with six. Freshman Alexa Smith (Shippensburg, Penn) recorded a season and career-high five kills.

For The Lynx

  • Cassidy Wygonik had a match-high 21 kills. Allison Napoleon also out killed all Buccaneers in the match with 11.
  • Tallin Goldberg racked up a match-high 33 assists on the evening.
  • Wygonik also led the lynx in service aces with four. Merceidiz Diaz followed close behind with three of her own. Diaz also led the Lynx in blocks with two solos.
  • Napoleon led Lesley with 25 digs with Wygonik recorded 19 of her own.

How It Happened

Tuesday's match did not start off well for the Buccaneers. Much like the Buccaneers did to Dean College last week, Lesley was able to jump out to a commanding 2-0 lead with 25-20 and 25-19 set wins.

In the first set, the teams traded points, each leading at multiple points during the set, until the score went to 20-17, Lesley, following a four-point run. The last set lead for the Lynx was never erased by the Bucs and Lesley won the set, 25-21. The Bucs posted a -.143 hitting percentage in the set to Lesley's .231.

Set two was overall a better game for the Bucs but it was also better for Lesley. With hitting percentages of -.037 and .267 respectively, the teams continued the set much like they finished the first. Lesley jumped out to a five-point, 7-2 lead early. The Bucs would never get within more than two points and the Lynx led by as many six at points. With the hosts scoring the final four points of the game to win the game, 25-19, the Lynx took a commanding 2-0 lead in to the third set.

The third set is where things turned around for the Buccaneers. Some mid-match adjustments and positive hitting percentages would swing the momentum in the Bucs favor.

Much like the first game, the third set was a lot of back and forth. The teams each led at multiple times in the game. Late in the set, the Bucs took a two-point, 20-18 lead. The Bucs went on to score five of the next nine points to win the set and keep the match going, 25-22.

With the goal of pushing the match to a fifth set, the Buccaneers had to battle in the fourth game. They went down by three early, 5-2, and slowly worked their way out of the deficit to pull ahead 9-8 midway through the game. Eventually, the Bucs extended their lead to five points, 15-10, after multiple Lesley errors. Constant swings in momentum led to three to four points runs by both teams until the score went even at 24 aside. Needing to win by two, this set was going over the normal 25 points needed to win a game. The Bucs went up 25-24 and the Lynx tied it up at 25-25. Needing two points to send the match to a decisive game five, the Bucs did just that scoring on kills by Sheehan and Coughlin to win the set, 27-25, and tied the match at 2-2.

The 15-point fifth set began with the Bucs jumping out to a 3-0 advantage. Slowly the Lynx chipped away to get within one. The Bucs then went on a 5-0 run to go up six points, 12-6. Three points away from blowing a 2-0 lead, the Lynx scored six unanswered to tie the game, 12-12. Maritime would retake the lead on a service error by Lesley and then give it away with a service error of their own. The Lynx proceeded to take a 14-13 lead on a Wygonik kill. Needing to score three points to win, the Bucs called a timeout. Coming out of the time out, Sheehan racked up her 10th kill on the ensuing rally, the Lynx made an attack error and Coughlin put the game and the match away with her second game winning kill of the night. The Bucs won the game 16-14, and the match 3-2.

Up Next

The Buccaneers are off until next Tuesday, October 15th, when they travel to Salem State to take on the Vikings in conference play at 7pm.