BUZZARDS BAY, Mass. - The Curry College women's volleyball team remained perfect by picking up a pair of victories on Saturday at a tri-match hosted by Massachusetts Maritime Academy.
The Colonels bested the host Buccaneers 3-0 (25-11, 25-16, 25-20) in the opening match of the day, before sliding past Anna Maria 3-1 (25-12, 22-25, 25-16, 25-18) to close out the twinbill.
With the victories, Curry improves to 3-0 on the young season.
In the day's opening match, Curry got out to an early start thanks to a 13-0 run in the opening set. The Colonels led 10-7 when the run began, and found themselves with a 23-7 edge before the Buccaneers got back on the board. Senior Amanda Wood (Tokyo, Japan) had three service aces during the run to help the Colonels jump out to the early advantage.
In set two, Curry gradually pulled away from Mass. Maritime throughout the set before closing it out on a kill from Wood. Curry had 12 kills in the frame with just one error for a dazzling attack percentage of .500.
The Buccaneers made things interesting in the third set, but Curry ultimately closed out the match with a 25-20 victory. Curry led just 22-20 in the closing stages of the set, but a Lauren Guzman (Cranston, R.I) service ace and a pair of Mass. Maritime attack errors brought the match to a close.
Wood led all players in the match with 11 kills, and made just one error on 15 attacks for an attack percentage of .667. Senior Lexi Pereira (Attleboro, Mass.) recorded seven kills and a match-high 13 digs in the victory.
In Curry's second contest against Anna Maria in four days, the Colonels again got the best of the AMCats. In the opening set, the AMCats raced out to an early 7-6 lead, but the Colonels kicked it into next gear scoring 19 of the set's final 24 points to grab an early 1-0 advantage.
Anna Maria got the best of the Colonels in the second set with a back-and-forth 25-22 victory. The set featured nine ties and four lead changes, but a 4-1 run down the stretch from Anna Maria was good enough to even the match.
The Colonels regained control in set three and never looked back. Curry trailed 5-4 in the early stages of the set, but a 6-0 run capped by consecutive Wood service aces put the Colonels back in the driver's seat for good. Anna Maria wouldn't get back within more than three points the rest of the set, as Curry eventually went back ahead with a 25-16 final.
Anna Maria refused to go away quietly in set four, despite Curry leading by as many as five points entering the latter stages of the set. Leading by a score of 18-17 however, Curry found another level, ending the match on a 7-1 run, thanks in part to a pair of Guzman service aces. The match was sealed on a kill from senior Rachel Damstra (Houston, Texas).
Pereira had an impressive 17 kills in the victory to go along with 19 digs for the double-double. Sophomore libero Avia Fraine (Mattapoisett, Mass.) was one of four Colonels in double figures in digs, leading all players with 22.
Curry will be back on the hardwood on Tuesday evening when they travel to Fitchburg State for a non-conference battle against the Falcons at 6 p.m.
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