WORCESTER, Mass.  -  Coast Guard women's volleyball picked up a conference victory after a Saturday afternoon sweep of Worcester Polytechnic Institute. The Bears improve to 12-6 (2-2 NEWMAC) with the result being their ninth win in straight-sets this season.

Amelia Matson led the game in kills (17) and points (17.5) and picked up a block assist in the second set. The first-year pin attacker started the season on the bench but has become an important piece of the Bears attack this season, with her 3.35 K/S pacing the team and currently slotting her at fourth among all NEWMAC competitors.

The Bears battled back from an 11-4 defecit in the 1st set to tie WPI at 17 later on. The set would be neck-and-neck until WPI earned set point while up 25-24. A kill from Matson to tie the game back up was followed by a kill from middle blocker Mack Boose to give Coast Guard set point; Matson would seal the set with another kill on the next point.

Those three points were all set up by Sophia Rosenberg, who formed the other half of Matson's block assist. The Bears' setter had a literal career night, racking up a career-high 46 assists. The sophomore's performance was her eighth 30-set game in her last nine appearances as she brings her season total to 389.

The 2nd set started in a similar back-and-forth to the ending of the 1st. WPI was hanging on late, trailing 20-18, before kills by Shannon Shaw and Sarah Somer and an attack error by WPI put Coast Guard up, 23-18. WPI outside hitter Anastasia Kelnik, who made the previous error, avenged her mistake with a kill on the next point, but an ensuing bad set and a service ace by Somer would claim the 2nd set for the Bears.

Shaw had an outstanding all-around performance. She followed Matson with the second-most kills (15) and points (16) in the match while putting together a double-double performance with 12 digs, tying for third-most in the match with teammate Courtney Shire. The senior leads the team in kills this season (142) and is showing up in the top ten of all NEWMAC competitors in the stat.

The 3rd set saw both teams trading leads for the majority of play. WPI wasn't far behind their hosts when Coast Guard led 18-17 late, but the Bears closed it out by scoring seven unanswered points. The visitors were helped during the rally by sloppy play from the hosts, who accounted for four of the points through errors. Matson, Samantha Ventimiglia, and Kaela France accounted for the other three points via kills.

France led the match in digs with 25; it was her twelfth match with 20+ digs this season. WPI's Victoria Escuer had the second-most digs at 15. Zeala VanDamme led the Engineers on offense, going for 10.5 points on seven kills, two aces, and three block assists.

Women's volleyball will be staying in Massachusetts for their next match, this time heading to Wellesley, Mass. to face aptly-named Wellesley College on Tuesday, Oct. 8th at 7:00 PM. The Blue are 6-4 (1-2 NEWMAC) and have lost their last three face-offs with the Bears, all by 3-1 margins.