The College of Coastal Georgia volleyball team pounded a pair of opponents on Saturday in Atlanta. The Mariners cruised to a three-set win over Oglethorpe University, taking the match by scores of 25-15, 25-20 and 25-19. Coastal Georgia then proceeded to knock off Andrew College also in three-sets by scores of 25-21, 25-16 and 25-17. Both matches were played at Oglethorpe.
With the victories, the Mariners improved to 7-2 overall. They have all week to prepare for a Saturday match at Columbia College in Columbia, S.C. The team will be back at home on Sept. 27 for a 7 p.m. home matchup against Brewton-Parker College.
Against Oglethorpe, an NCAA Division III opponent, former Glynn Academy standout Kansas Robison had a banner performance with 18 digs and four aces. Maggie Bee recorded 19 assists as the Mariners spread their kills through the lineup. Amanda Kline notched eight kills in 15 attempts for a .400 hitting percentage. Al Aplington totaled seven kills and Holly Hammer and Valerie Cutrone added five each.
Aplington, who hit .543 for the match, also had 10 assists and four aces and set a new match record with five blocks. Her two blocks in the second set were also the most by a Coastal Georgia player in any one set. Georgia Beck notched 10 digs.
In the victory over Andrew, Robison and Beck both dug 14 balls each. Aplington had a double-double effort for the Mariners with 10 kills and 13 assists and she also had three blocks in the match. Hammer had nine kills and hit .473 for the match and Cutrone had seven kills to go with two blocks. Bee again was the assist leader for the Mariners with 21 and she also served up three aces.
"This weekend we played hard," said Coastal Georgia coach Jeff Huebner. "We never really seemed to click but our effort was in the right place, which is sometimes really tough when you are struggling to get in system. In that regard, I thought we did well."
Huebner lauded the play by Aplington in both matches as she recorded 17 kills, 23 assists, five aces and seven blocks in the two matches. "She was a player all weekend," the coach said. "She accounted for 52 points, enough to win two sets by herself."
