NEW LONDON, Conn. -- A kill down the line by Shannon Shaw from Noelle Tursky gave the Bears the win over New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) opponent Wheaton College in a five-set marathon (25-20, 25-19, 25-22, 25-21, 15-10) Saturday afternoon. With the win, the Bears improve to 12-4 (1-2 NEWMAC), and the Lyons drop to 5-6 (1-3 NEWMAC). 

Neither team won a set by more than six points, and Coast Guard needed help from everyone to get the win. The Bears had 51 kills, with Tursky and Maeve Duffin assisting on 22 and 17 of those kills, respectively. Shaw led the Bears with 13 kills, while Elizabeth Atkinson added nine and had a remarkable .533 kill percentage. Tursky and Carlee Lingle each added eight kills. It was a great serving day for the Bears as well, as they had 13 aces on the day, including four by Laila Baameur and three each by Carmen Zipf and Kaela France. Zipf led Coast Guard in digs with 18, while Shaw had 17, Tursky 15, and France nine. 

Wheaton came out on a 4-1 run in set one before a kill by Atkinson got the Bears back on track. Numerous rallies had each team out in front throughout the set, with ties at 12-12, 14-14, and 15-15. Sarah Somer had two kills in a row to put the Bears up 15-17 before an error gave the Lyons a point back. Wheaton used that and service from Isabel Coca to go up 20-17 and force a Coast Guard timeout. The Bears battled but ended up losing the set 25-20. 

Shaw started set two with a kill and an ace, giving the Bears the early 3-1 lead. Wheaton kills by Annah Shaheen and Bailey Madrzyk tied the set at 4-4. Coast Guard then went on a 3-0, thanks to serving from France. Baameur then had her turn, recording two beautiful aces in a row to put the Bears up 12-6 and force a Wheaton timeout. The Lyons came out swinging, getting a few points back with a kill from Megan Kelleher and multiple from Sydney Lyon, bringing the score to 13-10. An ace from Lyon and a kill from Madryzk brought Wheaton within one, but Claire Portigue shut it down with a kill, followed by an ace from Zipf. Coast Guard never relinquished the lead and won the set 25-19.

Set four was much of the same with neither team holding more than a four-point lead throughout. Wheaton held on to win the set 25-21 to force a deciding fifth set.

The Lyons jumped out to an early 4-1 lead before a strong Somer swing gave the Bears a kill and some momentum. The Bears used Wheaton errors and a Zipf ace to bring it back to 4-4. Shaw, Lingle, and Atkinson each recorded a kill to force a Wheaton timeout with Coast Guard up 9-7. Wheaton got as close as one at 10-9, but two kills by Lingle and one by Somer had the Bears set up for match point and Shaw's final kill to win 15-10. 

Coast Guard is back in action on Tuesday, September 27 at 7 PM when they take on the Cougars of Clark University in continued NEWMAC play.