BUZZARDS BAY, Mass -- Saturday afternoon, the Buccaneers volleyball team closed out their 2023 season with a conference match against Bridgewater State on the road. The Buccaneers battled hard but ended up losing in straight sets, 3-0, to their conference foe.

The Basics

Final: Bears 3, Buccaneer 0 (25-18, 25-14, 25-12)

Records: Bridgewater (4-12, 2-5)

               Maritime (4-21, 0-7)

Inside The Numbers

Maritime

• Gemma Geisler led the Bucs offensively with nine kills. 
• Shayla Narodowg had a team-high 13 assists in the match.
• Erin Donlan served up a match-high three aces.
• Audrey Manning was the match's defensive leader with 15 digs.
• In total, Maritime had 20 kills, a -.048 hitting percentage, 19 assists, six aces, and 42 digs.

Bridgewater State

• Meaghan Coutu posted a match-high 14 kills. Abigail Reardon had 10 of her own. 
• Bethany Votta was the match leader in assists with 36.
• Five different players served up one ace each.
• Lilly Misay and Alexandra Dunn each had 12 digs to lead the Bears on defense.
• At the net, Sarah Brogioli and Reardon each had a block. Lily Welch had two block assists.
• In total, Bridgewater had 41 kills, a .333 hitting percentage, 40 assists, five aces, 59 digs, and five total blocks.

How It Happened

Maritime held the lead in the first set for much of the game. They opened their lead to four points, 16-12, and that was where Bridgewater came storming back. The Bears scored seven points unanswered to take a 19-16 lead. Maritime would only score two more points and Bridgewater earned the set win, 25-18, to take a 1-0 match lead. 

In set two, The Bucs took a 2-0 lead to start things off which the Bears quickly erased with five points, taking a 5-2 lead. Bridgwater did lose the advantage to Maritime when the Bucs came back to tie it 11, then 12-12. From there, the Bears retook the lead and never lost it, scoring 13 of the next 15 points to win the game, 25-14, and take a 2-0 match lead. 

Set three was all Bridgewater as they took an early five points, 7-2 lead. Maritime couldn't get back within four points in the game and the Bears ran away with the game, 25-12, and won the match 3-0.