Brunswick, Ga. - The College of Coastal Georgia women's volleyball team dropped its first set of the season on Saturday, but that didn't stop the Mariners from claiming two more wins and walking away with their second straight championship in the Mariner Invitational
The Mariners (8-0) knocked off Faulkner 3-1 and then blanked Webber International 3-0 on the second day of the tournament at Howard Coffin Gym to pick up their seventh and eighth wins of the season.
In all, the Mariners have won 24 of 25 sets this season en route to their eight victories. They also still have not lost a match in the Mariner Invitational, winning each of their four matches in the tournament for a second straight year.
"It was a good learning weekend for us," said Coastal Georgia coach Jeff Huebner. "We had some things to work out and I thought we worked out some of those things today. We worked hard in practice to improve this week, and I thought we were a better team than we were last week. If we continue to make progress the rest of the season like we did this week, we will be OK going forward."
Coastal Georgia won each of its four matches last weekend by 3-0 counts in the Volley in the Mountains tournament hosted by Montreat (N.C.) College to claim the championship of that event.
After starting their home event with two wins on Friday, the Mariners started out on the right foot on Saturday in their first match of the day against Faulkner, taking the first set 25-23 to run their streak to 19 straight set wins to open the season. But, the Mariners lost a late lead in set two and dropped the contest 25-22 for their first set loss this season. They rebounded, however, and controlled the final two sets to earn the overall win, topping the Eagles by 25-13 and 25-17 in the third and fourth frames.
"I was proud of the way the girls responded to losing that set," Huebner said. "They just came back out more focused and more determined, and I thought we really showed our depth in that match."
The Mariners defintely showcased their offensive firepower, ringing up 69 kills in 144 attacks to finishing hitting a solid .361 over the four sets. Four Mariners finished with double-digit kill numbers. Kara Neisen led the offense with 17 kills, Rachel Amundson finished with 14, Emma Anderson totaled 14 and Maddie Bounds put down 12.
Cayley Meiners dished out 48 assists in the win.
Coastal Georgia held Faulkner to 41 kills in 138 swings as the Eagles hit just .159.
Neisen also had a huge defensive game for Coastal Georgia, notching 20 digs. Jennifer Johnson had 13, Anderson added 12 and Meiners recorded 10.
The match against the Eagles was a non-conference contest. The teams will meet twice in Southern States Athletic Conference action later this season.
In the tournament finale, Coastal Georgia was going against Webber for the second time this season after topping the Florida school last week in North Carolina. The Mariners eased past the Warriors, winning by scores of 25-11, 25-19, 25-19.
The Mariners hit .692 in set one for a new record-high hitting percentage in a set. They had 18 kills in 26 attempts with no errors.
Allie Shannon led a 43-kill attack for the Mariners with 12 kills in the match. Anderson followed with 11. Shannon took 17 swings in the match and didn't make an error while hitting .706 for the match.
Meiners finished with 38 assits. Jennifer Johnson led the defense with 13 digs.
"We played better this week against Webber than we did last week," Huebner said.
The Mariners will go back on the road next weekend to open their Southern States Athletic Conference slate. They play at Brenau on Friday before visiting conference newcomer Dalton State on Saturday.
