NEW LONDON, Conn. - The Bears split two nonconference matches today, falling to Johnson & Wales 3-2 and defeating Rhode Island College 3-1.

Match One: Johnson & Wales 3 Coast Guard 2 (22-25, 18-25, 27-25, 25-18, 15-9)

Johnson & Wales came back from a 2-0 hole to win 3-2 over Coast Guard in nonconference action. The final score line was 25-22, 25-18, 25-27, 18-25, and 9-15.

With the loss the Bears drops to 17-8 on the season while the Wildcats improve to 17-6.

Senior Ashley Dumont hit .478 with 14 kills. Junior Susan West had a team high 15 kills and 10 digs. Senior Maggie Hine had a match high 48 assists to go along with a team high 14 digs.

Freshman Emily Kalmink hit .405 with a match high 20 kills. Senior Paula Cadavid had 14 kills and 11 digs. Sophomore Julianna Zaharis had a match high 20 digs while senior Kellen Tensen had a team high 44 assists.

In set one Coast Guard ran out to a 10-5 lead behind three kills by Dumont and two kills by sophomore Madison Scott.

The Wildcats clawed their way back into the set to tie it at 18. Kalmink had three kills and an ace while Cadavid had three kills of her own over this stretch.

The Bears would finish out the first set on 7-4 run for a 25-22 win. Scott notched two more kills while freshman Stephanie Bullard added one.

Johnson & Wales jumped out to a quick 8-2 lead in the second set aided by three kills by freshman Natasia Kapustin and two kills by Kalmink.

It continued to be an uphill battle for Coast Guard as they closed with one (10-9), but a 4-0 run by the Wildcats capped off by freshman Monica Cordova's ace pushing the lead to 13-9. 

With the score 17-15, the Bears came alive to finish off the second set on a 10-1 run taking it 25-18 and gaining a 2-0 lead. Dumont added two more kills to her total while West had two kills of her own over the final 11 points.

The Wildcats started their comeback in the third set jumping out to a 5-0 led by two aces by Cordova.

Coast Guard then tied the set at 6-6, 7-7, and 13-13 before they took a one point lead on a Dumont kill from Hine.

The rest of the third set was back and forth until it was all tied at 25. Johnson & Wales then used a kill by Kalmink and then a kill by Cadavid to win the third set 27-25.

It was the Bears turn in the fourth set to run out to an early lead with a score of 9-3. Sophomore Summer Adams led the charge over this stretch with two kills.

The Wildcats climbed back in the match to tie it at 14 and then took the lead 15-14 and never looked back winning the fourth set 25-18.

In the fifth and final set, Johnson & Wales used an early 8-1 run to take an early lead and finished of the set winning 15-8 for a 3-2 victory.

Match 2: Coast Guard 3 Rhode Island College 1 (25-23, 19-25, 25-15, 25-18)

Coast Guard topped Rhode Island College 3-1 in a nonconference matchup, 25-23, 19-25, 25-15, and 25-18.

With the win the Bears improve to 18-8 while the Anchorwomen drop to 16-10.

Sophomore Summer Adams hit .407 with 13 kills and five digs. Junior Susan west had a match high 14 kills to go along with five kills. Senior Maggie Hine had a match high 41 assists and six digs while sophomore Michelle McGill had a match high 13 digs.

Rhode Island College was led by senior Kelsey Lace who had a team high 13 kills and 11 digs. Senior Michelle Malboeuf had 12 kills and nine digs while sophomore Abigayl White had a team high 31 assists.

The first set was only tied once at 1-1 as the Bears took the lead at 2-1 and never looked backed leading from that point forward to take a 25-23 win and a 1-0 lead.

Down early at 9-5 and then 15-12, Rhode Island fought back to tie the match at 18-18. They then took the lead at 19-18 and brought it home from there taking the second set 25-19.

Coast Guard dominated the final two sets taking early leads and never looking back winning 25-15 and 25-18.

The Bears are back in action Tuesday night as they travel to Wellesley for key NEWMAC game. The match will begin at 7:00.