NEW LONDON, Conn. -- Freshman Allie Wildsmith led the Bears with four out of the Bears' 12 blocks on the night to shut down Trinity College in the 3-0 (25-20, 25-21, 25-23) win. 

The Bears came out with a balanced attack, with five players having six or more kills. Sophomore Shannon Shaw had a game-high 12 kills to lead the Bears, while Wildsmith added eight, and Elizabeth Atkinson and Sarah Somer each had six. Senior Noelle Tursky assisted on 20 of the team's 40 kills and added seven kills of her own. Junior Maeve Duffin added 16 assists. Defensively the Bears were led by Sophomore Kaela France with 18 digs, with Tursky adding six and Duffin and Shaw adding five each. 

Set one saw some great action in long rallies, really testing the endurance of both the Bears and Bantams. Trinity went up by as much as four points at 16-12, on Grace Sullivan's service and back-to-back blocks by Maggie Barnes and Isabella Caffuzzi. A kill from Tursky started a push from the Bears, tying the set at 16-16. Atkinson hit a screeching one-ball from Tursky to push a tie at 17-17, and that was the momentum the Bears needed. After service errors from both teams, the Bears rattled off three in a row to go up for good. On a good swing from Lola Craig at 24-20, Tursky and Wildsmith recorded the block to win the set for the Bears. 

The second set had some more back and forth before Somer and Shaw each had a kill and Zipf an ace to put the Bears ahead 18-13. Trinity made it interesting with kills from Molly Bernstein, Ava Boloyan, and Caroline Howell to bring the Bantams within one point at 21-20. However, Coast Guard came right back with kills of their own from Tursky and Carlee Lingle to eventually win the set.

The final set started with Duffin absolutely blanking the Bantams with three out of her four aces in a row to put the Bears up 3-0. Both teams battled from there to a 16-16 tie. Kills from Trinity's Craig and Margaret McCarthy put them up 20-18, but a kill and a block from Atkinson and two kills in a row from Shaw put the Bears back on top 22-20. At 24-23, Tursky set up Wildsmith to secure the point and the win for the Bears. With the win, the Bears improve to 9-1 and Trinity drops to 2-2.

The Bears are back in action this Saturday, September 17 as they open up New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) play at home against Babson College at 1 PM.