Volleyball Defends Home Court In 3-2 Thriller Thursday

WEST HARTFORD, Conn. – The University of Saint Joseph (USJ) Volleyball Team picked up a much-needed 3-2 victory over the Mariners of Mitchell College (MC), in a non-conference match inside the O'Connell Athletic Center Thursday evening.

It was all on the line in this one as both teams traded sets back and forth to the very end. Mitchell came out with an impressive 25-17 first set victory, but the Blue Jays, backed by their home crowd, pulled away midway through the second set to even the odds at one. In set three, the teams traded the lead numerous times, with MC holding a 23-21 edge late. All seemed well for the visitors until the Blue Jays scored back-to-back points to tie it up, but Mitchell remained poised and scored the final two points of the set to take a 2-1 series lead.

The Fourth set was another tight one, the fans treated to some consistent back-and-forth action. For the second straight stanza, it was tied 23-23, only this time, USJ capitalized on two straight attack errors from the Mariners to take set four, 25-23. It all came down to set five, first to 15 wins…only it kept going…and going, both teams refusing to give in, despite only needing to score two straight points to clinch the match after hitting the 15-point mark. Finally, after Mitchell tied the game at 20, junior middle hitter Shannon Carey (Bayport, N.Y.), who has been unconscious as of late, took over with consecutive kills to finish off the visitors, 22-20. Carey had a team-high 18 kills on the night, while junior outside hitter Olivia DeLoach (Spring Hill, Fla.) was impressive in her own right, recording a game-high 21 kills for the Mariners.

GAME INFORMATION
Score: Mitchell 2, Saint Joseph 3
Set Scores: 17-25, 25-22, 23-25, 25-23, 22-20
Records: MC 4-11, USJ 4-10
Location: O'Connell Center | West Hartford, Conn.

COACH QUOTE [Sheila Gisbrecht] "Both teams left it all out on the court tonight. We saw great defensive stands on both sides. Natalia Rabassa and Julia Mackenzie were crucial there for us. Offensively, we were more efficient near the finish with some key swings from Shannon Carey and Hannah Benson getting us through the fifth set. Overall, it was a good performance, and will give us some momentum heading into the weekend."

GAME NOTES

• The win snaps USJ's four-game skid. 
• USJ has won nine of the last 10 meetings over MC. It is also the Blue Jays' second straight five-set win over Mitchell.
• Saint Joseph has just one loss at home this season.

NUMBER TO KNOW

4 – The Blue Jays have won four matches in 2021, two each in sweeps, and two in five-set thrillers (Mount Holyoke and Mitchell).

Up Next
USJ will be back in action in a highly anticipated home Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) tri-match on Saturday, October 16, against the Pride of Regis College, and the Monks of Saint Joseph's College of Maine at 11:00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m. respectively inside the O'Connell Center. It is the fourth of five GNAC tri-matches this season.

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