NEW LONDON, Conn. –
After winning a five set classic last season, Coast Guard fell 1-3 to the Conn College Camels tonight. The loss for the Bears marks the first time since 2012 that they lost the annual cross-street battle with Conn. The Camels win improves them to 9-8. They will get back to NESCAC play on Friday with a 7:00 PM match at Amherst College.
In the first set, it was Conn College who came out swinging, opening up a 4-0 lead and scoring six of the first seven points in the match. Despite multiple CGA efforts, including a five point run late to bring the score to 22-18, they were unable to break the early deficit. Ultimately, the Camels took the set by a score of 25-19. The first gave deja vu to last season's against the Camels in which Conn won by a score of 25-10 before the Bears mounted a comeback to win the match in five.
Coast Guard did bring some momentum into set two with their late run and an energy boost off the bench in the form of
Mack Boose(Camden, NC), who came in midway through the first and recorded a kill on her first play in action.
In the second, ties at 1-1, 2-2, 3-3, 4-4, 5-5 started the set in electric fashion before CGA took the first lead of over one at 7-5. After back to back
Sarah Somer(Cary, NC) kills, the Bears took their biggest lead thus far at 12-7 before Conn stormed back to tie the score at 13-13 and take their first lead since 2-1 at 14-13. After the Camels extended their lead to 16-13, CGA was forced to use their final timeout.
Out of the timeout, a Conn error made the score 16-14 and some stellar defensive play by the Bears mounted their momentum. Senior libero
Laila Baameur(Bakersfield, CA) kept the point alive with three diving digs before
Corey Lemmer(San Francisco, CA) found paydirt with a kill from
Holly Davis(Sisters, OR) to cut the Conn lead to just one. The Bears were lethal from there, scoring eight straight with Davis at the line and 12 of the last 15 points to tie the match at 1-1. It was the veteran Baameur and two rookies who led the Bears in the late comeback with the senior libero recording seven digs in the set while freshman
Holly Davis assisted on six of the final 10 points, three of which went to fellow freshman
Corey Lemmer who hit at a .700 clip in the set.
Like set one for Coast Guard, they would be forced to play from behind in the third, falling down 7-1 early. With the score at 7-2,
Laila Baameur took the service line and her team took off behind her, scoring eight points in a row to take an 11-7 lead. The run was highlighted by three Baameur aces and four different Bears recording kills.
Despite the potentially crushing run by the Bears, Conn College refused to back down with the Camels keeping the lead within reach into their final timeout trailing 15-17. From there, Conn would continue chipping away, fighting back to tie the score at 20-20 and re-take the lead at 21-20. After ties at 21-21 and 22-22, Conn took charge, handing the Bears a heartbreaking comeback defeat by scoring the final three points to clinch the 25-22 set three victory.
In the must-win set four, the Bears and Camels exchanged early runs with CGA jumping out 3-0 before Conn scored the next four to take their first lead of the set. After ties at 4-4, 5-5, and 6-6, Conn jumped ahead, scoring seven of the next 10 to take a four point lead at 13-9 and forcing a CGA timeout. Out of that timeout, the Camels were unstoppable, scoring 12 of the last 17 to secure the match with a 25-14 set four win.
Coast Guard's leaders in kills on the day were
Amelia Matson(Mililani, HI) and
Corey Lemmer, who had 12 and 11 respectively, with Lemmer leading the team with a .476 attack percentage. Freshman setters
Holly Davis and
Ava Ahokovi(Honolulu, HI) combined for 39 assists, Davis leading with 23.
On defense,
Laila Baameur had a team high 27 digs. Ahokovi and
Courtney Shire(Cape May, NJ) were the others in double figures with 10 a piece. Baameur also led the match with four aces.
After losing two in a row, the Bears(10-7) will look to get back in the win column on Saturday October 18th at the Wheaton College Tri-Match. The Bears will face NEWMAC foe Wheaton at 11 AM and Framingham State at 1:00 PM.
