CASTINE, Maine — The Bates College volleyball team bounced back from its first loss of the season with a 3-1 non-conference victory over Maine Maritime Academy Saturday afternoon at Smith Gymnasium.
The Bobcats improved to 8-1 overall with the 25-20, 25-13, 16-25, 25-13 victory, while Maine Maritime fell to 3-9.
Bates put together an efficient offensive performance, finishing with 56 kills and a .271 hitting percentage while holding the Mariners to 34 kills and a .115 clip. The Bobcats were especially sharp in the second and fourth sets, hitting .390 and .423, respectively.
The opening set was tightly contested, with Maine Maritime using a five-point run to turn a 9-4 Bates advantage into a 10-9 lead. Neither side could create much separation from there, and the Mariners eventually pulled even at 18-18.
Bates responded at the right time. An
Elle Faris kill gave the Bobcats a 19-18 advantage before
Alice Fischer delivered back-to-back service aces to extend the margin to 21-18.After Maine Maritime closed within 21-20, Bates scored the final four points. A
Sofia Castiglioni block pushed the lead to 24-20 before Norry delivered the set-clinching kill for a 25-20 victory.
The Bobcats took control much earlier in the second. Bates raced to a 7-1 lead and never trailed, extending the advantage to 12-5 behind consecutive Norry kills. Maine Maritime pulled within 16-10, but the Bobcats answered with a four-point surge featuring two
Nora Gilmer kills and an
Anaïs Reneaum kill to make it 20-10.
Bates finished the set with another strong closing stretch. Gilmer contributed two more kills down the stretch, while
Jaime Bartley-Cohen delivered consecutive kills to bring Bates to set point before Gilmer finished off the 25-13 victory.
Maine Maritime answered in the third set. With the score tied at 3-3, the Mariners scored five straight points and eventually stretched the advantage to 14-8. Bates made a push, using two Castiglioni kills and a pair of blocks involving Castiglioni and Gilmer to pull within 16-14, but the Mariners closed the frame with nine of the final 11 points for a 25-16 win.
The Bobcats left little doubt in the fourth.
Trailing 3-1, Bates scored six consecutive points to take a 7-3 lead. Bates turned the set into a rout behind Fischer at the service line. The junior served 10 consecutive points as the Bobcats stretched their advantage to 18-4, a run that included four Fischer service aces, three Norry kills and a Castiglioni kill.
Maine Maritime later cut the deficit to 23-13, but a Reneaum kill and a Mariner error finished off the 25-13 set and the match.
Reneaum led a balanced Bates attack with 10 kills and no errors on just 14 swings, good for a .714 hitting percentage. Castiglioni also recorded 10 kills while adding two solo blocks and three block assists. Gilmer contributed nine kills and hit .292, while Norry finished with eight kills without an error on 17 attempts for a .471 percentage. Bartley-Cohen added eight kills.
Fischer finished with 17 assists, six service aces, 10 digs and no kills, while Lauren Croom handed out a match-high 24 assists. Isabel Bettencourt added three aces, and Logan Yogi paced the Bobcats with 13 digs. Bates finished with 11 service aces as a team.
Sydney Williams led Maine Maritime with a match-high 16 kills, while Hannah Tate recorded a match-best 28 digs.
Bates returns home Tuesday, hosting Saint Joseph's College of Maine in a non-conference matchup at 6 p.m.
