MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. – The Coastal Georgia Mariners (11-5, 4-1) beat Florida Memorial University (10-5, 5-1) and Florida College (9-9) in today's tri-match.
Gardieliz Laureano-Andujar had a banner day for the Mariners. She totaled 73 assists on the day, both matches being career-high numbers. She also contributed six aces and 25 digs. Laureano-Andujar set four career-highs in the pair of matches today.
Offensively the Mariners had a big day. Senior outside Sam Kepler led the pack with 21 kills. She was followed closely by sophomore rightside Adair Werley who totaled 18 and junior middle blocker Allison Muldrow with 17.
Defensively, senior libero Yorelis Rios Gonzalez racked up 60 digs on the day. In today's matches, she surpassed the 300th dig mark for the 2019 season.
Coastal Georgia 3, Florida Memorial 2 (24-26, 20-25, 25-17, 28-26, 15-13)
Despite two well fought sets, including an extra point finish in set one, the Mariners found themselves down two sets to none. Coastal Georgia turned the momentum around. They came out swinging set three, beating Florida Memorial by the largest difference in the match 25-17.
The Lions, undeterred by their loss, came back harder in set four, but the Mariners once again outlasted and won 28-26. Finally, to win the well fought match between the Sun Conference foes, Coastal Georgia bested Florida Memorial 15-13 in the fifth set. The Mariners were the first team to hand the Lions a loss in conference.
Rios Gonzalez put her defensive skills on display yet again for the Mariners. She totaled 39 digs, her career-high.
Werley was a force to be reckoned with offensively. Scoring a team-high 14 kills and maintaining a .243 hitting percentage, she proved the rightside to be no "weak side" for the Mariners.
Offensively, many contributed high numbers against the Lions in addition to Werley. Pedraza added 13 kills and Kepler totaled 12 tying her season-high.
Setter Laureano-Andujar totaled 34 assists on the match, crushing her former career-high by nine. This personal record wouldn't last long however, as she would go on to set a new career-high in the following match.
Coastal Georgia 3, Florida College 1 (25-21, 25-22, 17-25, 25-23)
The Mariners faced non-conference opponent Florida College in the second match of the day. Winning three of the fourth sets, the Mariners only faltered in the third, losing 17-25. The remaining three were well fought by the Falcons, but controlled and won by Coastal Georgia.
Freshman outside hitter Hannah Williams led the Mariners with 10 kills. Williams set her career-high handily, by doubling her former personal record.
Stepping up in today's match, Sophomore pin-hitter Kaci Hollenbacher also set a career-high with nine kills. Having only collected one a game previously, Hollenbacher crushed her personal record and more than doubled her total amount of kills this season.
Kepler and Muldrow also collected nine kills.
Rios Gonzalez collected 21 digs this match, while Laureano-Andujar contributed a career-high 14 digs. She also added 39 assists, besting the career-high she set in the first match of the day by 5. To top it all off, she added four services aces, her fourth career-high of the day.
Career-Highs Set Today:
The Mariners will be back in action this Wednesday, October 2 at Webber International before returning home Saturday, October 5 to face Johnson & Wales University in the annual Dig Pink Match.
