BUZZARDS BAY, Mass – On Saturday, the Buccaneer volleyball team opened up their season hosting Curry and Anna Maria in a tri-match at Clean Harbors Athletic Center. Though there were many bright spots for the young team, under first year head coach Bill Reilly, the Bucs dropped both matches of the day, 3-0, to Curry in the opener and Anna Maria in the final match of the day.

Match One

The Basics

Final: Curry 3, Maritime 0

Records: Curry 2-0

               Maritime 0-1

For The Bucs

• Offensively, Ameena Freeman (Columbus, Oh) led the way for the Bucs with 6 kills.
• Senior Tegan Murray (Newburyport, Ma) recorded four kills of her own. Freshman Marlo Sim (Groton, Ct) picked up two kills for the Bucs.
• Freshman Audrey Manning (Hanover, Ma) led the team in assists with four.
• Six different Bucs had service aces in the match.
• Defensively, Freeman recorded a team-high 11 digs. Sim added nine, Bianca Andronic (Somerset, Ma) picked up six and Manning and Isabelle Miazga (Rocky Hill, Ct) recorded five each.
• At the net, the Bucs recorded five blocks in the match, all block assists with Izabella Mackintosh (Plymouth, Ma) leading the way with three block assists.

For The Colonels

• Amanda Wood picked up a match-high 11 kills in the win for Curry. Lexie Pereira had seven of her own kills with Lauren Guzman recording six.
• Rachel Damstra assisted on an impressive, match-high, 29 attacks.
• Wood served up four service aces for the Colonels.
• Pereira had 13 digs in the match defensively
• Three Curry players had blocks at the net.

How It Happened

Curry, having played a match already this season, against the Bucs second opponent of the day Anna Maria, came out firing from the first serve. In set one they came out on top 25-11 over maritime. The teams traded points and serves in the beginning of the first set; the score was tied after six points, 3-3. From there, Curry went on a five-point run running the score to 8-3. Maritime outscored their guests 4-2 over the next six points to pull back within three, 10-7. At that point, the Colonels took back the momentum and went on a 12-point run. Down 23-7, Maritime scored four of the final six points of the set, though those two points for Curry was enough to take the first set 25-11.

In set two the Buccaneers found a groove, staying within 3-4 points of Curry much of the way through the set. At 15-13, in favor of Curry, the Colonels went on a small run making it 21-13. From there, they scored four of the final seven points to take set two 25-16.

Maritime did not go quietly in their first match of the season as they took a three-point lead in the third set, 6-3. While the lead diminished, they held on to it for a while leading 10-9 at one point in the set. Curry picked up the pace and took their first lead of the set, 14-10, winning five points in a row. Late in the set, the Buccaneers went on a 6-2 run to pull back within two points of Curry. With the score 20-18 the Colonels went on a 5-2 run of their own to close out the set and the match 25-20.

The win for Curry brings them to 2-0 on the season. The loss for Maritime puts them at 0-1 early on.

Match Two

The Basics

Final Score: Anna Maria 3, Maritime 0

Records: Anna Maria 1-2

                 Maritime 0-2

For The Bucs

• Offensively, Marlo Sim led the way for Maritime with six kills in the match. Tegan Murray, Kolby Barbieri (Haverhill, Ma), and Alexa Smith (Shippensburg, Pa) each recorded three kills.
• Bianca Andronic and Audrey Manning both had six assists for the Bucs.
• Defensively, Ameena Freeman and Diana Andronic (Somerset, Ma) each recorded career-highs with 13 digs apiece. Sim also recorded a career-high nine digs.
• Junior Kaila Collins (Kingston, Ma) picked up two blocks in her time on the floor. Murray also had two blocks for the Bucs.

For The AMCATS

• Julia Rutkowski picked up a match-high seven kills in the win while Bella Kozciak had five of her own.
• Julia Tarantino assisted on 14 points in the match.
• Ashley Sheehan served seven service aces for the visitors.
• Libero Tabitha Franceschet had a match-high 14 digs on the defensive end. Serena Dennis had 13 digs for the 'Cats.
• At the net, Molly Brown picked up for blocks.

How It Happened

Maritime picked up and maintained a steady lead for much of the first set. A little over halfway through the hosts had a 15-14 lead over Anna Maria that was as big as six points at one point. Late in the first game, AMC went on an 8-1 run to go up 22-16. The Bucs then went on a 5-0 run to bring the game back even at 22-22. Unable to take the momentum back in full, the Bucs surrendered three points in the final handful of points to be had in the set and dropped the game by the slimmest of margins, 25-23.

Set two, like set one, was close the whole way. The Bucs took an early lead, Anna Maria reclaimed the advantage and saw their lead grow to five points, 18-13, late in the game. The Bucs were able to hold the AMCATS back scoring five of the next eight points to cut the deficit to four. Up 22-18, AMC scored the final three points on a small run to take game two, 25-18.

The third set started well for the Bucs as they jumped out to a 3-1 lead. After a few mishaps and a momentum shift in favor of the guests, the AMCATS went on a 21-1 run to take a commanding 22-5 lead in the third set. The Bucs did score seven of the final 10 points of the game but it wasn't enough as Anna Maria took the game, 25-12, and the match, 3-0.

With the win, the AMCATS improve to 1-2 on the year. With the loss, the Bucs fall to 0-2.

What's Next?

The Buccaneers will be on the road taking on Smith College on Tuesday, September 7^th at 7pm. Keep an eye on mmabucs.com for live stats and a livestream from Smith.