BUZZARDS BAY, Mass -- October 9th, 2018. That was the last time a Buccaneers volleyball team had won a MASCAC match. Tuesday night, they ended that nearly six-year long streak against the same team they beat back in October of 2018, Fitchburg State, by a final of 3-1 in front of their home fans.

The Basics

Final: Buccaneers 3, Falcons 1 (25-20, 22-25, 25-19, 28-26)

Records: Maritime (3-9, 1-0)

               Fitchburg (0-10, 0-1)

Inside The Numbers

Maritime

• Freshman Alanys Torres recorded 12 kills in the match to lead the Buccaneers. Gemma Geisler added eight kills of her own. 
• Shayla Narodowg led all players in assists with 29 on the night.
• On the serve, Marlo Stark tallied a match-high three service aces. Audrey Manning and Madeleine Salinas each had two. 
• Defensively, Manning led all Buccaneers with 26 digs. Narodowg had 21 in the win.
• At the net, Chloe Johnson totaled four blocks with two solo and two assists.  Sydney McCarthy also had a solo and an assist. 

Fitchburg

• Stephanie Sardella had a match-high 17 kills for the Falcons. Samantha Mirra added nine.
• Madison Keohane led the team with 16 assists and Mia Vestal was close behind with 15.
• On the serve, Sardella, Mirra, and Keohane each had three service aces. 
• Defensively, Mirra led all players with 28 digs. 
• At the net, Gabrielle Griffiths recorded four block assists in the loss and Diana Sosa-Martinez had three block assists.

How It Happened

Fitchburg jumped out to an early lead in the first set, 3-0, before the Bucs could score. The Falcons kept a lead until they were up 8-6 and that's when the tides turned in favor of the Buccaneers. Stark stayed on serve for six points, earning five of them for the Bucs, giving the home team a 12-9 lead. Though Maritime did relinquish that lead and the teams traded points and had multiple lead changes, the Buccaneers kept fighting back and late in the set the teams were tied at 18-18. From there, the Maritime squad went up one, 20-19, then three, 23-20, and finished the first set off with a Torres kill and a Salinas ace to take the first game, 25-20.

In the second set, Maritime fell behind again. 3-0 early and ultimately were down six, 7-1 a little later on. Fitchburg kept extending their lead and were up seven, 9-2. Down 10-2, the Bucs regained the serve at 10-3, and Salinas brought back the momentum and helped bring the Buccaneers back within two points, 11-9. Fitchburg scored two points to the Bucs one over the next three points but then it was Stark and the Bucs turned again scoring four of the next five points to tie the game at 14-14. Maritime took a lead for a short period of time, 16-15 and 17-16, until the Falcons took back the set and went back on top. Maritime mixed in a few points late in the set, ultimately, Fitchburg would take the game by a three-point margin, 25-22, and tie the match at a game apiece.

Set three saw the Bucs go up 3-0 early and hold a lead until the teams got to double digits where they would tie, 10-10. Maritime took a lead again, by as many as three, and Fitchburg, once again, clawed their way back to tie the game at 16-16. Manning would finally put the team up by three points and essentially shut the door on the game as they never relinquished the lead in the set again outscoring the Falcons 9-3 down the stretch and took game three, 25-19, and took a 2-1 match lead.

Up 2-1 staring a conference win in the face for the first time in six years, the Buccaneers didn't disappoint and the two teams didn't make it easy to end the match. Maritime took an early lead, going up by three, 4-1. The teams traded points and serves until they were tied at 7-7. Fitchburg took their first lead of the set, 8-7, and then went up 9-7. The Bucs went on to score five points in a row to retake the lead, 12-9. Fitchburg, again, did not go away easily, the tied the game back up at 15-15. Though the Bucs took another small lead, the Falcons came right back and the teams tied at 19-19. Maritime proceeded to take a three-point lead, 23-20, and the match looked like it was all but over. Not with Fitchburg. They came back to tie the game at 23-23 and then took a 24-23 advantage. One point away from going to the fifth and final set, Johnson nailed home a kill to tie the game at 24-24. The teams tied again at 25-25 and then 26-26. With the serve, the Bucs, with Stark on the serve, went on to force two errors by the Falcons and go on to win the set, 28-26, and the match, 3-1, giving them a 1-0 conference record.

What's Next

The Bucs are on the road on Thursday at Colby-Sawyer for a 7pm non-conference match.