NEW LONDON, Conn. –

On Coast Guard's annual Family Weekend, the women's volleyball team gave their supporters something to cheer about in a big way with two 3-0 wins in their lone home tri-match of the season. 

The day started for the Bears with a dominating 3-0(25-17, 25-14, 25-12) sweep of DeSales in the early match. Throughout the nine sets, DeSales had the lead for just three points, with the Bears jumping out early and taking care of business down the stretch. 

For the Bulldogs of DeSales, the losses to Coast Guard and JWU drops them to 3-6. They will host Moravian University on Wednesday September 17th at 7:00 PM.

In the DeSales match, all 19 Bears players contributed in a true team effort. Eight different women recorded kills, eight recorded assists, and 14 recorded a dig. Senior Sarah Somer(Cary, NC) had nine kills to lead all players with Sam Ventimiglia(Key West, FL) and Amelia Matson(Mililani, HI) just behind with seven each. Ventimiglia, Somer, and freshman Corey Lemmer(San Francisco, CA) were all above .400 in attack percentage. Freshman Alaina Corbin(Fredericksburg, VA) and junior Julia Gallinger(Garrison, NY) each made the most of their opportunities with Corbin going 2-3 on attacks and Gallinger going 2-4. Ava Ahokovi(Honolulu, HI) was the offensive facilitator with 19 assists, the only player in double digits on either side.

Defensively, the towering trio of Eloise Shirley(Rock Island, IL), Sarah Somer, and Mack Boose(Camden, NC) combined for seven blocks while senior libero Laila Baameur(Bakersfield, CA) handled the lion's share of digs with 22, the only player on either side in double figures. 

After Johnson & Wales defeated DeSales in the middle game, Coast Guard would get back at it and have to face JWU with their momentum rolling. The Bears would quickly halt that momentum by scoring 15 of the first 19 points to open up a commanding 15-4 lead. From there, they could cruise to a 25-11 set one win in which their opponent made 15 errors.

In set two, the Wildcats held just one lead but managed to keep the game close all the way through. On the back of nine Amelia Matson kills(including two of the final three points), Coast Guard hung on to the second set 25-20. 

Set three was the marquee matchup of the whole tri-match. There were five lead changes and 11 ties in what would ultimately be the clincher for CGA. Johnson & Wales threw the first major punch in the set, on a six point run with Viva Mansfield(Norwalk, CT) serving to take a 7-4 lead. The Bears would punch back though, retaking an 8-7 lead after a JWU attack error and two Amelia Matson kills. 

The Wildcats would proceed to go on another strong run to take a 16-11 lead but Coast Guard again would storm back. They chipped away at the JWU lead to bring the score to 19-17 in favor of the Wildcats thanks to numerous kills by both Somer and Ventimiglia down the stretch. The deficit was then cut to just one when Eloise Shirley and Amelia Matson brought the house down and brought the Coast Guard fans to life with a block. 

After exchanging the next points, JWU maintained a one point lead at 21-20 and appeared to be closing in on a two point lead but the strong Bear back row would not allow for that to happen. Diving digs by both Courtney Shire(Cape May, NJ) and Laila Baameur kept the point alive and after setter Sophia Rosenberg(Hershey, PA) had an impressive dig of her own, the bruised and battered Baameur found Amelia Matson for the game-tying kill.

Over the next two points, Rosenberg would find Shirley for back to back kills but JWU rallied back for two of their own to tie the score at 23-23 but a Wildcat error gave CGA match point at 24-23. Laila Baameur ceased any chance of a Johnson & Wales comeback with the knockout punch for the Bears in the form of an ace. 

In the match, Baameur had 14 digs. Just behind her were Amelia Matson and Courtney Shire with nine apiece. Matson led the Bears in points(18), kills(15), aces(2), and attack percentage(.375). Her 18 points set a new career high. Behind Matson, Sarah Somer, Sam Ventimiglia, and Abby Schweitzer(Emmaus, PA) each had 5+ kills. Feeding the ball to the Bear attackers were Ava Ahokovi and Sophia Rosenberg with 20 and eight assists respectfully.

The 2-0 day brings the Bear's win streak to four and their overall record to 5-2. They will go back on the road Tuesday September 16th at 6:00 PM to face Nichols College.