NEW LONDON, Conn — 

The U.S. Coast Guard Academy volleyball team took care of business at home on Tuesday night with a 3-0 (25-22, 25-17, 25-18) defeated New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) rivals Salve Regina University.

It was another 12.5-point night for Amelia Matson (Mililani, Hawai'i), who recorded her match-high total on 11 kills, an ace, and a block assist. Also huge in the win was senior captain Laila Baameur (Bakersville, Calif.), who led the match with 19 digs and recorded a career-high seven points on seven aces. The pair were two of six Bears who recorded at least five points on the night.

Coast Guard improves to 13-7 overall and reaches .500 in the NEWMAC at 4-4, while Salve's seventh loss in their last eight matches puts them at 9-11 on the season and 1-9 in league play. The Seahawks will have a tough task in their bounce back attempt next Tuesday, October 28th, when they host another NEWMAC power in the form of Babson College (14-4, 7-1).

Salve took a quick 4-0 lead to start the first set before the Bears quickly got back within one, scoring their first point on a kill by Matson and getting the next two on back-to-back strikes by Sarah Somer (Cary, N.C.). The Seahawks responded with a six-point run thanks to three Bears attack errors and points from Lydia Daskalos and Lucy Swanson to get out to a 9-3 advantage, a lead they'd maintain for a good majority of the set.

The Bears eventually faced a 15-20 deficit later on but were able to rally for six consecutive points on three Seahawk errors, two kills by Somer, and Matson's ace to flip the game on its head and take a one-point lead. After trading the next three scores, the Bears completed the first set comeback by putting down three straight kills from the arms of Sam Ventimiglia (Key West, Fla.), Dylan Elferdink (Hernando Beach, Fla.), and Corey Lemmer (San Francisco, Calif.).

The second set started locked in a dead heat through a 13-all tie before the Bears made four points of space following three Seahawks attack errors and a kill by Elferdink. After Salve scored the next two, Coast Guard was able to broaden the gap with a five-point run, started by three straight errors for the Seahawks before Lemmer put a cap on it with back-to-back kills. Salve got one back thanks to a service error before Ventimiglia and Matson brought it to match point on kills. The clincher was delayed by another Coast Guard serving error, but a bad set on the visiting end gave the hosts the 2-0 match advantage.

After Salve started the third set by taking a 4-1 lead on three Jenna DiFrancisco kills and a Kirra Baker ace, a kill by Eloise Shirley (Rock Island, Ill.) put the ball in Baameur's hands for the next serve. Outside of an Elferdink kill and a Seahawk attack error, seven of the Bears' next nine points from Baameur at the line. The senior captain tied for the second-most single-game aces in program history by the time Salve served again, sharing the rank with Angelou Dutton '20. The all-time record for aces in a game in Bears history is eight, set by Emily Gilland '16 in 2012.

Salve got the ball back after Baameur ended her own run with a service error, and the visiting side's next point came from Coast Guard errors, as well. A serving error by Salve got the ball back on the Bears' side and kicked off an 8-1 run to get the hosts out to a 17-8 lead. Despite the Seahawks fighting back to an 18-23 deficit, a kill by Somer gave the Bears match point before Lemmer put another down to claim the sweep for her team.

Coast Guard hit .239 on the night, including a match-high .281 in the second set, while Salve's match-low -0.027 in the second weighed down their .101 hitting performance. Anouk Jansen led Salve with 10.0 points, while Swanson and Madelyn Homer led their side's defensive efforts with a respective 11 and 10 digs. Kalena Stavish had 13 assists for the Seahawks but was outdone by the freshman setting platoon of Ava Ahokovi (Honolulu, Hawai'i) and Holly Davis (Sisters, Oreg.), who combined for 32 of the Bears 39 credited feeds with Ahokovi accounting for 19 and Davis getting 13; each of the other seven went to Baameur.

Baameur's 19 digs, fresh off of her third NEWMAC Defensive Athlete of the Week nod, were the single-player majority of Coast Guard's team effort 53. Matson was close to a double-double with nine, Ahokovi had eight, and Davis had seven. The Bears outblocked Salve by a 7-6 margin, helped by 12 total block assist for the team. Shirley had the solo and was joined at the three-mark by Lemmer and Ventimiglia, while Somer recorded two.

Bears volleyball looks ahead to a non-conference bout this Friday, October 24th, when they head take on the New England Small College Athletics Conference's Trinity College (11-8) in Hartford at 6 pm. The match is the first of two for the Bears as part of the NEWMAC-NESCAC Challenge, a volleyball scheduling partnership between New England's two leading Division III leagues. Coast Guard will round out the weekend by facing no. 17 Wesleyan College at (16-1) on Saturday at 2 pm.