HARTFORD, Conn. –

In front of a raucous senior day crowd in Hartford, and despite trailing in each set, Coast Guard stood strong to defeat a very talented Trinity College team by a score of 3-1(26-28, 25-19, 25-21, 26-24). The win improves the Bears to 14-7 and drops the Bantams to 11-9. The win also adds to a lengthy history of Coast Guard success at Oosting Gymnasium, improving the program to 8-0 lifetime there.

Last season when Coast Guard and Trinity College faced off, they engaged in a five set classic in which no team won a set by more than four, with the Bantams ultimately coming out victorious. Set one in this year's match proved yet again that the squads were evenly matched with ties at 1-1, 2-2, 3-3, 4-4, 5-5, 6-6, 7-7, 8-8, before Trinity finally took the set's first lead of more than one at 8-6. Coast Guard appeared to have done that themselves six points earlier when, while leading 5-4, Trinity College appeared to hit the ball well out of bounds but a very controversial touch call gave Trinity the point and tied the score at 5-5. From there, a classic "ball don't lie" moment ensued with the following Bantam service sailing out of bounds.

From their 8-6 advantage early, Trinity would cling to that lead despite effort after effort by the Bears. Coast Guard did cut their deficit to just one for the first time since 10-9 at 19-18 after a majestic Laila Baameur(Bakersfield, CA) pancake led to a Bears point. They would get down to just one point again at 20-19 and 21-20 before finally tying the score again at 21-21. After Trinity took the lead back, a rifling Abby Schweitzer(Emmaus, PA) kill tied it back up at 22-22 before CGA took the lead at 23-22. The Bantams fought back with two points in a row to force set point at 24-23. After a well-timed Mark Thomas timeout, the Bears tied the score at 24-24 to force the set into extras. CGA would then earn two set points, but have the Bantams snatch the victory from their hands with a 28-26 set one win on a potentially match-changing call in which the Bears were called for a fourth touch on what appeared to many to be touched back onto the Bears side by Trinity.

Set two started much like the first, with ties galore early. The Bears were able to take the first lead with some padding when Courtney Shire(Cape May, NJ) took the serve with a 7-6 lead. From there, Shire stood on her business and led Coast Guard to four consecutive points, opening up a strong, but not yet comfortable 11-6 lead. After they expanded their lead to 16-8, Trinity stormed back to score the next six points before the Bears bounced back to score four of the next six and win the race to 20 at 20-16. The Bantams kept chipping away and threatening but Abby Schweitzer and Amelia Matson(Mililani, HI) kills forced set point where a Bantam attack error evened the match at one a piece.

With the match tied. Trinity took charge early in the third, opening up a 10-4 lead. The Bears would not go down lightly however, storming back to 12-9 after an exceptional rally which felt like it lasted all night. They would cut their deficit to one at 14-13 before tying the set for the first time since 0-0 at 15-15. They would then take their first leads of set three at 16-15 and 17-16, but Trinity was able to match them again at 18 and 19 before snatching the lead back at 20-19 and forcing CGAs final timeout at 21-19.

Out of that final timeout, Sam Ventimiglia(Key West, FL) and Corey Lemmer(San Francisco, CA)  got back to back kills to tie it back up before a Trinity attack error gave them back the lead. After Ventimiglia's kill, Courtney Shire took the service line and took over the Bears. The junior from New Jersey wreaked havoc on the Trinity back line, giving the Bears offense advantage after advantage with Ventimiglia ultimately capping off the win with a kill to put the Bears in the drivers seat at 2-1.

After their dramatic comeback in the third, set four started for the Bears just like the first two did. Even play early gave ties at 1-1, 2-2, 3-3, 5-5, 6-6, and 8-8. Coast Guard took an 11-8 lead and from there took charge, opening up to 15-10 to force a Bantam timeout. Out of that timeout, Trinity turned the tables on Coast Guard. The Bantams tied the set at 17-17 and took a 19-18 lead, extending it to 22-19 to force a CGA timeout. Out of the timeout, the Bears tied it back up at 23-23 and got to match point on a Trinity attack error. After a rollercoaster rally, Trinity came away with the point to force extras for the second time in the match. 

Unlike the first set when the 24-24 tie extended all the way to 28-26, the fourth would go quickly with Coast Guard grabbing the win quickly. A Corey Lemmer kill gave them their second match point before a Bantam attack error allowed the whole Bears team to erupt onto the court in celebration.

In arguably the most exciting match of the season thus far, the Bears saw numerous women jump off the stat sheet. After winning her third NEWMAC defensive player of the week honor this season and leading the nation in digs last week, Laila Baameur stayed red hot with an inspiring performance today. The senior captain had a career high 36 digs without any reception errors. Laila is pure confidence on the court, as the boisterous and energetic Bears leader, but was humble in response to her historic play as of late; stating "I'm just blessed to play the game that I love with the people that I love". With her performance tonight, Baameur becomes a member of the exclusive 35+ dig club at Coast Guard, joining only 2018 grad Michelle McGill and 2025 grad Kaela France, who did so five times in her illustrious career. 

Behind Baameur also in double digit digs were Ava Ahokovi(Honolulu, HI), Courtney Shire, and Corey Lemmer. For Lemmer, her 10 marks a new best in her young rookie career.

The other rookie to set a new career best was setter Holly Davis(Sisters, OR) with 24 assists. Fellow freshman sensation Ava Ahokovi was just behind her at 22.

Reaping the benefits of the excellent play from the setter position was a trio of Bears attackers with double digit kills. Amelia Matson led the way with 15, Sarah Somer(Cary, NC) and Corey Lemmer with 12 and 10 respectively. Somer also recorded four blocks, tied with middle Eloise Shirley(Rock Island, IL) and one behind Sam Ventimiglia who led the way with five blocks. Ventimiglia was the leader in attack percentage as well at .333 with nine kills.

Coming up tomorrow, Trinity College will host Smith College at 1:00 PM and Coast Guard will travel to #17 Wesleyan at 2:00 PM to round out the NEWMAC-NESCAC challenge.