NEW LONDON, Conn. –
In a battle of two teams searching for their first conference win, Coast Guard came out on top in four sets vs the Wheaton Lyons(25-15, 28-30, 25-17, 25-18). The loss for the Lyons drops them to 6-9 overall (0-3 NEWMAC). They will travel to Babson for a match on Saturday October 5^th at 11 AM.
 
The Bears cruised in the first set, leading nearly the entire set en route to a 25-15 victory. The second set was a rollercoaster for both squads. Wheaton jumped out to an early 7-1 lead and CGA was playing catch up for most of the set. They fought back and were able to tie the score at 12-12 on a Julia Gallinger(Garrison, NY) service ace. Later on, Wheaton would again jump ahead with leads of 21-17 and 23-20 appearing to bury the Bears but yet again they fought back. Down to set point at 24-22, Coast Guard tied the set at 24 after a kill from sophomore middle Eloise Shirley(Burke, VA) and an ace from senior libero Kaela France(Calhan, CO). From that point, the teams would trade points with both Wheaton and Coast Guard having three set points until the Lyons finally capitalized and won the set 30-28. In the set there were eight ties and seven lead changes.
 
The third set appeared to heading towards a similar close battle as set two with both teams trading punches. With a 16-15 lead, Laila Baameur(Bakersfield, CA) of the Bears gave them momentum they needed. The junior defensive specialist earned her second kill of the season on a perfectly placed ball to end the long rally and give her team a 17-15 lead. The Bears took control from there and won the set 25-17. The momentum would carry on to the 4^th set where Coast Guard would win 25-18 while never trailing.
 
The stellar Coast Guard Bears attack was facilitated by sophomore setter Sophia Rosenberg(Lebanon, PA) who, for the first time in her career, reached 40 assists in a match. She was feeding the hands of standout senior Shannon Shaw(Torrance, CA) who had 15 kills and standout freshman Amelia Matson(Stafford, VA) who had 14. The two also helped the team on defense with Shaw adding six digs and Matson adding four. Carlee Lingle(Schertz, TX) was third on the Bears with seven kills and led the team with a .316 attack percentage.

Sophomores Eloise Shirley and Sophia Rosenburg each had three blocks to top the Bears defense up front. The rock of the Bears defense, senior Kaela France, had 30 digs to lead the team. This marks an astounding 5^th team this season that she has accumulated 30 or more digs in a match. Behind France, Laila Baameur had 17 digs and Courtney Shire(Bethlehem, PA) had nine, each of which with some acrobatic, unlikely saves to keep CGA afloat in sets two and three.

The victorious Bears are now 11-6(1-2 NEWMAC) and will next go on the road to face NEWMAC foe WPI on Saturday October 5^th at 1:00 PM.