BUZZARDS BAY, Mass -- On Wednesday evening the Buccaneers volleyball team hosted Salem State in the Conference opening game for each team. In what was expected to be a close match, the night came down to the fifth set. In that fifth set, the Vikings narrowly beat the Bucs to take the match three games to two.

The Basics

Final: Vikings 3, Buccaneers 2 (21-25, 25-15, 25-8, 13-25, 15-11)

Records: Salem State 1-5 (1-0)

               Maritime 1-5 (0-1)

On The Court

For The Bucs

• Marlo Stark and Shayla Narodowg led the team with 11 kills each. 
• Keira Whalen set a career-high in assists with 28 in the match. 
• Stark and Whalen each had four service aces, Narodowg recorded three in the loss.
• Defensively, Audrey Manning and Stark each had 15 digs on the night.
• Chloe Johnson tallied a solo block and combined for another with Kolby Barbieri.
• Sydney McCarthy posted a .400 hitting percentage in the game with four kills. Narodowg had a .273 hitting percentage.
• The Bucs tema hitting percentage was .078.

For The Vikings

• Presley Shairs led all players with 13 kills in the win for Salem.
• Eva Haralabatos barely reached the match-high in assists with 29.
• Haralabatos also led all players with five aces.
• Samantha Thoeun recorded 26 digs in the match. 
• Haralabatos had the only solo block of the night. Ella Speidel, Haralabatos, Shairs and Abigail O'Connor each had a block assist.
• Shairs hit the best for the Vikings with a .312 hitting percentage. 
• The Vikings tallied a .087 hitting percentage in the match.

How It Happened

Both teams came out swinging in the first set playing it close in the first handful of points. With the Bucs up 5-4, they began to pull away from Salem going on an 11-3 run to take a commanding 16-7 lead. Salem pulled back into the game, cutting the deficit to three with a 10 -4 run of their own. Though Salem got within one point, 21-20, Maritime went on to score four of the next five points, including two aces from Whalen, to win the first set, 25-21.

In set two, similar to set one, the teams battled back and forth to a 6-6 tie. Then, Salem pulled out to a lead. No more than three points at first as the Bucs kept it close through the middle of the game with Salem leading 17-14. The Vikings picked up the pace and went on an 8-1 sprint to win the set, 25-15, and tie the match at 1-1.

In set three, the Bucs couldn't find their footing. Though they led 1-0 very early, Salem was on fire. They took the early lead and then made it an 11 point lead, 17-6. Haralabatos took the serve after an attack error by the Bucs and held the Bucs to just eight points, winning the set 25-8 and taking a 2-1 lead in the match.

With their backs against the wall the Bucs didn't stop battling. In set four they took a commanding 5-0 lead early. Though they surrendered a point to the Vikings, they added two more to go up 7-1. Never losing the lead, the Bucs extended the deficit to eight points, 13-5, and kept that pace for the remainder of the set. Up 18-11 late, Maritime scored eight of the next 10 points and put the cherry on top with a Narodowg kill to win the set, 25-13, and tie the match at two games apiece. 

In the final, tie-breaking, first to 15 win by two sets, the Buccaneers grabbed a 7-4 lead midway through the set. Then, the Vikings struck, scoring eight unanswered to take a 12-7 advantage. The Bucs went on to win the next two points, cutting the deficit to three points. Salem took the next two and were one point away from winning the match. Maritime, with a kill from Stark and Vikes attack error, made it 14-11. Needing three to get back into it and extend the match further, the Bucs made an error on the final point of the night that won Salem the set, 15-11, and the match 3-2.

What's Next

The Buccaneers are back home on Saturday, September 17th when they will take on Mitchell College at 6pm as part of Maritime's Homecoming Weekend.