BUZZARDS BAY, Mass – Monday night, the Buccaneer volleyball team hosted Dean College in non-conference play inside the Clean Harbors Center. After winning the first two sets, the Bucs were unable to win a deciding third set and fell to the Bulldogs, 3-2, in five set.

The Basics

Final: Bulldogs 3, Buccaneers 2 (25-23, 23-20, 25-20, 25-18, 15-12)

Record: Mass Maritime 1-12 (0-2 MASCAC)

               Dean 3-9 (0-2 MASCAC)

For The Bucs

• Senior Captain Marie Harrison (Weymouth, Mass) led the Bucs with six kills. She added two assists and 18 digs.
• Junior Madison Coughlin (Monroe, Conn) led the team in assists with 13 while also tallying 15 digs.
• Senior Captain Christina Ruggeri (Bourne, Mass) led all players with a career high 32 digs. She also had two assists and two service aces.
• Senior Captain Michelle Sheehan (Attleboro, Mass) tied for the match-high in service aces with six. She also had five kills, and assist and four digs.

For The Bulldogs

• Melanie Rios-Nevarez had a match-high 14 kills in the match. She also tied for the match-high in service aces with six. She had two assists, was third on the team in digs with 21.
• Sadie Homer led her team in assists with 26 and was second on the team in digs with 25.
• Libero Amanda Payne led the Bulldogs with 30 digs in the match.

How It Happened

Two evenly matched teams played like it on Monday night on Taylor's Point. The Buccaneers took set one after jumping out to an 8-1 lead in the first game. Dean leveled out the score midway through the set and took a 21-20 lead late in to the game. Maritime scored four straight points to take a 24-21 lead and put the set away on an unforced error by Dean to take a 1-0 match lead.

The Bucs jumped out to another early lead in set two, this time 8-0. Dean closed the lead midway through the set thanks to multiple Buccaneer errors. What was an eight-point, 20-12, lead for the Bucs, closed to a 21-19 lead after a seven point run by the 'Dogs. The Bucs shut that down and scored four of the next five points, including a service ace by Ruggeri, to win the game, 25-20 and take a two game lead.

There was a momentum shift in the third game in favor of Dean. The Bulldogs scored nine of the first 12 points to take a 9-3 lead early. They extended that lead to 12-4 before the Bucs scored seven points to cut the deficit to one. The teams went back and forth until the score was tied 20-20. Five points away from winning the match, the Buccaneers were unable to score another point in the third set, losing the set, 25-21. Dean cut the Maritime lead in half, 2-1, going to the fourth set.

Dean continued their exceptional play in the fourth set, leading 6-1 after six rallies. Once again, the hosts cut the deficit to three points, then tied the game, then took a three point lead of their own. Down 15-12, Dean took over the set after a timeout, outscoring the Bucs 12-3 in the next 15 rallies to win the fourth set and set the match to a fifth and final set, 25-18.

The 15-point fifth set began with a back and forth leading to a 3-3 tied early. A few errors by the Bucs led to Dean taking a 7-3 advantage. Down 10-5 after a few more rallies, Maritime took a time out. Much like Dean in the previous set, the timeout was well timed as the Bucs outscored the Bulldogs 7-2 before Dean took another time out with the score 13-12 in favor of Dean. Needing two points to win the game in comeback fashion, Dean did just that, scoring two points due to a service error by the Bucs and a kill from Homer to end it, 15-12 in the set, 3-2 overall.

Up Next

The Buccaneers host Framingham State in MASCAC play on Wednesday night at 7pm in the Clean Harbors Center. This game will be the Dig Pink game for the Bucs. There will be a bake sale during the match with all proceeds being donated to the fight against breast cancer.