Coast Guard Eliminates Upset-Minded Volleyball, 3-1, In NEWMAC Quarterfinals

BOX SCORE

NEW LONDON, CONN.--Freshman Catherine Walker had a career-high 16 kills to go with 11 digs to lead fourth-seeded Coast Guard to a come-from-behind 3-1 win (19-25, 25-21, 25-22, 25-23) win over fifth-seeded Babson in the quarterfinal round of the New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) tournament.

Coast Guard (25-4) advances to the semifinals for the ninth straight season where the Bears will take on top-seeded and host MIT on Friday at 5 p.m. MIT beat eighth-seeded Clark 3-0 in the quarterfinals. Second-seeded Wellesley will take on third-seeded Springfield in the second semifinal at 7:30 p.m. at MIT.

Freshman Karen Matic led the way with 33 assists to go with seven kills while junior Ashley Bullard added 12 assists for the Bears. Junior Jessica Anderson also added 11 digs in the win.

Babson (13-15) stunned the Bears in the first set by scoring eight straight points turning a 16-16 tie into a 24-16 edge before winning 25-19. The Bears responded late in set two as they used a 6-1 run turning an 18-17 lead into a 24-18 advantage and won 25-21.

Coast Guard had a 12-6 lead in the third set, but Babson cut the lead to one at 22-21 before the Bears took three of the next four points to win the set.

Babson rallied from an 16-8 deficit in game four with Alexa Untermann serving six straight points in the 10-2 run as the Beavers pulled even 18-18. However, Coast Guard held on for the 25-23 win to clinch the overall match.

Sophomore Nina Milovanovic led the Beavers with 15 kills along with eight digs. Senior captain Caitlin O'Neill had 11 kills and three blocks in the final match of her career while freshman Kathleen Lynch added 33 assists to go with seven digs and three blocks. Senior captain Shanna Glassner led the Beavers' defense with 12 digs.

NOTE: Taken from a U.S. Coast Guard press release.