Auburn ME - The Mustangs had a tough conference match last night against SM Seawolves. Although it was a tight game the Mustangs were able to pull off a 3-set sweep (25-20, 25-23, 25-19), extending their record to 5-0 on the season.
The night started off with the Mustangs honoring their graduating athletes; Angelina Leonard, Tiara Begishe, Gia Cooper, and Nathalie Libby. When asked about the graduating athletes, Head Women Volleyball Coach, Kyle Chapman, stated "This is a special group of student-athletes. They have laid the foundation of our team culture, which has led to the success that we are having today. We are grateful for everything that they have done to build our program and I know that they have bright futures ahead of them."
When the match started, the Seawolves came out swinging. They jumped out to an early 10-3 lead and were even extended it to 17-11. The Mustangs were able to battle back and tie the match thanks to Angelina Leonard's tough serving and SM's hitting errors. Once CM was able to control the momentum of the set, they got on a roll and were able to win the first set 25-20.
The second set was more of the same with SM jumping out to an early 5-point lead and maintaining it for the majority of the match. CM made several hitting and serving errors which kept them from going on any scoring runs like they did in set 1. The Mustangs fought back and tied match at 21-21 thanks to some great defensive plays by Emily Grady. At 23-22, Gia Cooper had a big swing down the line for a kill which pulled the momentum back over to the Mustangs and they went on to win the set, 25-23.
The third set finally went the Mustangs way from the very beginning. CM was able to get on a run early in the set and maintain the lead throughout the whole set. They were able to settle in and limit their errors, playing closer to their potential. They were up 19-9 at one point and ended up winning the set 25-19.
When asked about the match, Coach Chapman said, "SM is a great team, they are a well-coached and scrappy group. I am proud of how we were able to fight through adversity each set and battle back to win in straight sets. It shows a lot of mental strength to be able to fight back after spotting them 6 points each set."
