Mariners Fall in Sun Conference Championship
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla.- The Coastal Georgia Mariners finished their season 20-9, 12-4 after coming up just short in a five set thriller against Florida Memorial in the Sun Conference Championship match.
Senior outside and second team all-conference selection Addie Pedraza led the Mariners with 11 kills. She was followed closely by Sam Kepler who totaled 10 kills. The senior outside also collected nine digs, making her just one shy of a double-double. In addition to her backrow defense, Kepler was also strong on the frontline, totaling five blocks.
Freshman Hannah Williams added nine kills. She finished the match with a .400 kill percentage significantly higher than anyone else in the match on both teams.
Junior middle blocker Alison Muldrow had herself a game. She finished the five set match with eight kills, a .211 hitting percentage and five blocks. What Muldrow didn't block down she did get a touch on, which challenged the Lion's offense and aided the Mariners' defense.
Her counterpart, sophomore middle blocker Tamaira Laezza added a career-high seven blocks. The seven consisted of one block solo and six block assists. Laezza also contributed six kills.
Sophomore rightside showed her power today from the pin. She tallied six kills, three digs and four blocks for the Mariners.
Junior Gardieliz Laureano-Andujar had a team-high 20 assists. She collected a double-double adding 15 digs. The Puerto Rico native also led the Mariners with three aces.
Junior setter Ashley Kot also collected a double-double in the season finale. She recorded 17 assists and 13 digs. In addition, Kot added a few well-placed setter-dumps to score two kills.
On defense, senior Yorelis Rios Gonzalez, Sun Conference Libero of the Year, totaled a team-high 20 digs. She also added six assists in out of system play.
Senior defensive specialist Madie Bunge totaled seven digs, two services aces and two assists. Junior defensive specialist Keelin Pilgrim collected two digs and came into serve for the Mariners.
Coastal Georgia 2, Florida Memorial 3 (23-25, 25-14, 25-17, 18-25, 10-15)
The Mariners, who fell in five sets to the Lions fell just shy in the first set. Early in the set, the Lions took a small lead which they continued to build on as the game progressed. Coastal Georgia, down by six at the most, began to gain momentum and battle back after a substitution at 19-13. The Mariners cut the lead to two with a four-point run created by kills from Muldrow, Williams and Kepler as well as an Ace from Bunge. Despite tying the game at 22-22, the Mariners just could not lift their momentum enough and fell 25-23.
The Mariners snapped back quickly and played hard in sets two and three. They made quick work of the Lion's in the second and third sets. Coastal Georgia beat Florida Memorial 25-14 in the second set and 25-18 in the third.
Florida Memorial's momentum built as they had their backs against the wall. They rode this moment to victory in the fourth set 25-18, tying the match 2-2.
The Lion's continued their hot streak in the deciding set, quickly taking a 5-1 lead. The Mariners still had some fight however, and tied the fifth set 6-6. Unfortunately, after that Florida Memorial ran away with the game and Coastal Georgia fell 15-10 in the final set.
The loss today concludes the 2019 Mariner Volleyball season. Congratulations to head Coach Leah Mihm and the Mariners on their 20-win season. Thank you to our wonderful seniors: Addie Pedraza, Sam Kepler, Yorelis Rios Gonzalez, Madie Bunge and Jane Townsend.
