NEW LONDON, Conn. – Amanda Dake hit .611 with match-high 13 kills leading Coast Guard to a 3-0 win over archrival Merchant Marine on Senior Day giving new head coach Mark Thomas his first win in the Bears only match this fall.

Coast Guard won 25-18, 25-19, 25-12 to secure a point in the Superintendents' Trophy standings and beat the Mariners for the fifth straight season. 

Sophomore Sophia Galdamez added a career-high eight kills, hitting .467 while classmate Noelle Tursky led the way with match-high 27 assists. Senior Veronica Hine led the Bears with eight digs while Tursky added seven in the win. Sophomore Lauren Hatfield had a match-high four aces for the Bears.

"The team was so fired up to be able to have this opportunity," said Thomas. "We scrimmaged against West Point two weeks ago with no fans and it was great, it was still fun, but even just having 100 fans in the stands like we did today does make a big difference for us."

Coast Guard scored five straight points in the opening set to take a commanding 15-6 lead. The Mariners would later use a 5-1 spurt to cut the deficit to 20-14 before the Bears won 25-18.

The Bears would open up a 15-8 lead in the second set and score four of the final five points for the 25-19 win.

Coast Guard scored seven straight points in the third set to take a 13-5 lead and never looked back closing out the match with a 25-12 win.

The Bears honored the three seniors, Hine, Bridget Boyle and Heather Miller in pre-game ceremony on Senior Day.

"Our senior and captain leadership has been fantastic and they have really set a tone. We are working really hard with very few matches," said Thomas. "It is easy to get lackadaisical at times and that is not happening in our gym and I think being able to play the way we did today with only three practices in the last week was impressive."