Doubly Satisfying Skyline Saturday Sweep For Volleyball

Newburgh, N.Y. — The Golden Eagles (12-6, 4-0 Skyline) are unstoppable in Skyline Conference play.  After beating both the Maritime Privateers (6-10, 0-3 Skyline) and the Mt. St. Mary Knights (11-15, 1-1 Skyline) in a tri-match hosted by the Mount Saturday, the defending Skyline champions are now 4-0 in their conference.

The Golden Eagles first two sets against the Privateers were quick victories as they pulled ahead early and maintained a lead until the end, winning both games 25-16 and 25-15, respectively.

Unwilling to go down without a fight, Maritime kicked it into gear for the third set, pulling out to a 3-0 lead and actually maintaining that lead for much of the set. At 14-11, the Eagles turned the game around. With a run of five, SJC took the lead for the first time of the set and refused to give it back. Maritime couldn't recover from the Eagles sudden push and SJC won the set 25-22, as well as their third conference match, 3-0.

Heather Ferchland (Selden, N.Y./ Centereach) had 11 kills, Julianne Tierney (Bethpage, N.Y./ Bethpage) had 19 assists and Courtney Wickline (Medford, N.Y./ Bellport) logged 18 digs.

The Knights proved to be the biggest test of the day for the Golden Eagles. The two teams were neck and neck in the first set, a bit of foreshadowing for the remainder of match. When the score tied at 14, the Knights took a lead that the Eagles couldn't recover from and the home team won, 25-19.

The second set saw much of the same back-and-forth scoring, however, when the game tied at 16, it was the Eagles who pulled ahead. With the possession changing with every other play, that small lead clinched it for the SJC who won the second set 25-23.

Sets three and four mirrored the first two, with the Knights taking the third 25-22 and the Eagles taking the fourth 25-18, and forcing a fifth set.

In this match of wills, it was the Golden Eagles who came out on top. From the first point of the final set SJC was focused. The visitors refused to allow the Knights to even tie the game and maintained at least a one-point lead the entire set.  A final kill by Melissa Garibaldi (Seaford, N.Y./ Island Trees) sealed the deal as the Eagles won the last 15-9 and with it, their fourth conference win of the season.

The victory was a true team effort with contributions from all over the court. Ferchland slammed down 17 kills and had seven digs. Tierney had eight kills, 40 assists and 16 digs, Manuela Palacio (Islip, N.Y./ Islip) had 11 kills, while Erin Kelly (Ridge, N.Y./ Longwood) logged an incredible 41 digs. Tiffany Willms (Centereach, N.Y./ Centereach) had six kills and 16 digs.