Volleyball Soars Past Anna Maria

PAXTON, Mass.- The Anna Maria women's volleyball team was defeated 3-0 by Becker College during the "Dig Pink Event for Breast Cancer Awareness" at the Fuller Activities Center on Thursday night.

Right from the start the two teams were evenly matched, battling to 5-5 score. Trailing 16-12 the AMCATS forged a comeback behind the strong serving of freshman Marcia McCoy (Hudson, Mass.). AMC would go on a 7-0 behind two aces from McCoy, and strong kills from both Nichole Robbie (Bellingham, Mass.) and Jezebel Gil (Brooklyn, N.Y.), to take a 19-16 lead. Becker would respond by taking nine of the next 12 points, closing out game one 25-22 on a powerful kill from sophomore Diane Hoefner (El Paso, Texas).

The Hawks came out strong in game two, grabbing a 9-3 lead behind several kills by senior Rachel Pinak (Cheektowaga, N.Y.). The AMCATS would get as close as 12-7 but could never catch the Hawks who went on to take game two by the score of 25-13.

In the third and final game of the night, the Hawks built a 7-2 lead out of the gate. Spurred on by a ruckus crowd, the AMCATS fought to get within four at 12-8 and 16-12. With the Hawks leading 23-17, Anna Maria went on a 4-1 run to cut the lead to 24-21. The home team would fall just short, as the Hawks held onto take game three 25-21, giving them the match three games to none.

Standouts for Becker included Diane Hoefner and Rachel Pinak. Jacqueline Laham (Westwood, Mass.) led the way for the ACMATS with seven kills, 10 assists, and 15 digs. Marcia McCoy also had a solid all-around game with two blocks, five kills, and four aces.

The win propels the Hawks to 6-13 overall on the season, remaining 1-2 in the NECC. They will take the floor again on Saturday when they host Bay Path. The loss drops the AMCATS to 2-15 overall, staying at 0-8 in the TCCC. Anna Maria will return to action Tuesday when they host Mitchell College at 6:00 pm.