ST. MARY'S, Md. – The Hood College women's volleyball team could not come away with a win in a trimatch against Marymount University and St. Mary's College of Maryland, falling 3-2 to the Saints and 3-1 to the Seahawks.
Set Scores
Marymount defeated Hood 25-18, 23-25, 17-25, 25-23, 15-9.
The Seahawks beat the Blazers 25-21, 25-22, 17-25, 25-17.
Inside the Box Score
Ann Ofoegbu (Falling Waters, W.Va./Spring Mills) led Hood with 25 kills, 23 digs, and six aces across both matches.
Maria Ricketts (Adamstown, Md./New Life Christian) had 51 assists on the afternoon, 35 against the Saints.
How it Happened – Marymount
The Blazers got off to a good start against the Saints, with kills from Ricketts and
Sami Betley (Bel Air, Md./Mercy) giving them a 6-3 lead. An 8-1 run from Marymount flipped the script to turn into an 11-8 deficit. Although Hood got within three point at 16-13 later in the set, that would be as close as it could get, with the Saints taking the last three points of the set to take a 1-0 match lead.
Once again, Hood built up a modest lead in the beginning of set two with a 7-4 advantage, but with a slim 10-9 lead, Marymount went on a 5-1 run to get ahead. The Blazers kept their heads up though, tying the set at 16 and then exchanging scores. With both squads knotted at 22 apiece, Hood would take three of the next four points to win the set and tie the match 1-1.
Set three was similar to the previous two, as the Blazers built up an 8-4 lead just for the Saints to shrink it to one at 12-11. After maintaining a two-point cushion for several rallies, Hood's offense exploded for five straight to make it 21-14, and Ofoegbu got three of the final four points needed to win the set and go ahead 2-1 in the match.
Looking to close things out, the Blazers instead stared down a 13-5 deficit after scoring the first three points of the fourth set. A good run for Hood got the team within two at 17-15, and it weathered another offensive run from Marymount to get within one at 24-23 to potentially force overtime, but an attack from Ofoegbu landed just out of play to tie the match and force a decisive fifth set.
With one final chance for the Blazers to close out the match, it was the Saints who came out swinging, scoring eight straight after Hood took the first point to take control of the set, eventually getting their 15th point to win the set and the match.
How it Happened – St. Mary's
Despite playing a second match on short rest, the Blazers kept up with the Seahawks in the first set, answering multi-point runs with similar runs of their own. A 5-1 run from St. Mary's to put Hood at a 14-10 disadvantage ended up being the difference-maker, with the set turning into a war of attrition that the Blazers would end up losing to fall behind 1-0 in the match.
After getting close to stealing the first set, set two started on a better note for Hood, jumping out to an 8-4 lead. The Blazers' offense kept buzzing, improving to a 17-9 lead, but that was when the Seahawks came back hard with a 14-2 run to suddenly put Hood behind 23-19. Although the Blazers took the next two points to be behind just two, they could not regain their composure before St. Mary's took the set and looked to complete the sweep.
Facing a potential sweep, Hood turned things around in the third set, starting with an opening 5-1 run with kills from
Anna Daley (Erie, Pa./Harborcreek),
Meara Mason (Easton, Pa./Easton Area), and Ofoegbu. Despite the Seahawks getting within two shortly after, an 8-1 run bolstered the lead to 18-9, which the Blazers would hold onto easily the rest of the set to avoid the sweep and force a fourth set.
It took another bit of a comeback to have hope for set four, with Hood starting down 8-0 but battling back to just be down 10-8. Unfortunately, that would be where the momentum would end for the visitors, as an 8-2 run from St. Mary's later in the set made it a 21-12 affair that iced the match and sent the Blazers home unhappy.
Up Next
Hood opens up Middle Atlantic Conference Commonwealth play with a home match against Stevenson University Wednesday, September 24 at 7 p.m.
