NEW LONDON, Conn. – Coast Guard moved to 4-2 on the season with straight set victories over Nichols and Western Connecticut to open-up the Coast Guard Academy/Conn. College Tournament Friday afternoon.

Match One: Coast Guard 3 Nichols 0 (25-8, 25-9, 25-5)

Freshman Bridget Boyle had a career high 16 kills while hitting .560 leading the Bears to their first victory of the day.

Boyle added nine digs and one solo block while classmate Heather Miller had a match high 14 digs. Sophomore Makenna Martin finished with 23 assists and sophomore Alexi Deane hit a match high .615 with eight kills.

The Bison were led by sophomore J'Ena Baker who had five kills. Sophomore Jayla Simmons had a team high seven digs and junior Zoe Chevrette had five assists.

Coast Guard was dominant in each set holding Nichols to single digit point totals and hitting at least .400 in each set as a team.

Match Two: Coast Guard 3 Western Connecticut 0 (25-17, 25-22, 29-27)

Senior Emma Saunders hit a team .357 helping the Bears to their second straight set win of the day knocking off the Colonials.

Saunders had six kills while Boyle once again led the team with seven. Sophomore Angelou Dunton had a team high 10 digs and four kills and senior Michelle McGill had nine digs, three assists and five aces. Martin had 13 assists with three digs while freshman Veronica Hines added 10 assists and four digs.

Western Connecticut was led by junior Kamari King who had a match high 12 kills. Junior Jenna Skerritt tallied 25 assists and three digs. Sophomore Bailey Wyrebek had a team high eight digs while junior Jenna Pisano was right behind her with seven of her own.

With the score 16-15, in favor of the Bears, Coast Guard used a 9-2 run to close out the first set and take the early 1-0 advantage. Boyle had three kills over this stretch while McGill added three aces.

The Colonials jumped out to a 9-7 lead in the second set before the Bears scored four straight points to move ahead 11-9 forcing a Western Connecticut timeout.

After the Colonials tied the set up at 12 the Bears pushed their lead to four at 16-12 with kills from Deane and senior Madison Scott.

Coast Guard would lead the rest of the way in the second set holding off Western Connecticut winning 25-22 and pushing their lead to 2-0.

Coast Guard looked to be in control in the final set, up 18-13, before the Colonials went on a 10-5 run tying the set at 23.

The Bears then battled back from three straight break points at 25-24, 26-25 and 27-26 before Scott sent home a kill to make it 28-27 and then McGill sealed the deal with an ace closing out Coast Guard's second straight set victory of the day.

The Bears are back in action tomorrow, September 9^th, with matches against Worcester State (12:00) and Regis (2:00).