POULTNEY, Vt. – Maine Maritime split its opening day of North Atlantic Conference play, defeating Castleton State 3-1, before falling 3-1 to Green Mountain.

Maine Maritime received great performances from Sydney Robertson and Ariel Knights en route to the win over Castleton. The Mariners took the first two sets 25-20 and 25-13 before the Spartans rallied for a 25-18 victory in set three. Maine Maritime then secured the win with a convincing 25-12 score in the fourth set. 

Robertson killed a match-high 16 attacks to lead the Mariners on offense.  She was followed closely by Knights who tallied 11 kills. Betsy Trenckmann provided the backline defense for MMA by posting 12 digs in the match. 

Castleton (3-6 overall, 0-1 NAC) was led by Grace Schreiber who notched nine kills.  Amanda Chambers led both teams with 14 digs in the loss.

As a team the Mariners scored a .220 kill percentage compared to just .038 for the Spartans.  MMA (6-6 overall, 1-1 NAC) also scored a decisive edge in service reception totaling a .905 reception percentage to Castleton's .790 mark.

Green Mountain received a double-double from Kara Egan and Madison Wage as the Eagles beat the Mariners in the last of four North Atlantic Conference matches played at Green Mountain. 

Egan, the team's outside hitter, led all players with 15 kills and 14 digs and was followed by Wage who had 10 kills, 11 digs and two solo blocks from the middle hitter position. Freshman outside hitter Megan Roy also recorded double-digit kills with 10 of her own. The hitters were set up by junior Jennifer Seredejko's match-high 34 assists.

Robertson's all-around game of six kills, four digs, four service aces and two assisted blocks led the Mariners. Maine Maritime also received a great effort from Knights who had five kills, five digs and four service aces.

From the team perspective, Green Mountain recorded a .187 hitting percentage and held Maine Maritime to a negative number in that category.  The Eagles also out served the visitors racking up 21 services aces compared to 13 for the Mariners.

Maine Maritime returns to action tomorrow at Norwich with matches against the Cadets and Southern Vermont.

Maine Maritime def. Castleton 25-20, 25-13, 18-25, 25-12

Maine Maritime (6-5, 1-0) (Kills-aces-blocks) - Sydney Robertson 16-5-0; Ariel Knights 11-3-0; Chantal Adderley 6-0-0; Jess Menges 4-0-0; Betsy Trenckmann 4-3-0; Jennifer Dixon 3-1-0; Coronado Hickman 0-1-0; Samantha Tumolo 0-4-0; Totals 44-17-0.0. (Assists) – Jennifer Dixon 33. (Dig leaders) - Betsy Trenckmann 12; Samantha Tumolo 9; Jennifer Dixon 9

Castleton (3-6, 0-1) (Kills-aces-blocks) - Grace Schreiber 9-0-0; Sarah Wheeler 4-0-0; Patrice Herrington 4-3-0; Amanda Chambers 4-0-0; Kelly Mills 3-1-0; Nicole Valastro 1-0-0; Shelby Smyth 1-0-0; Michaela Babineau 0-2-0; Totals 26-6-0.0. (Assists) - Shelby Smyth 11. (Dig leaders) - Amanda Chambers 14; Ruth Tomlinson 7

Green Mountain def. Maine Maritime 22-25, 25-10, 25-21, 25-19

Maine Maritime (6-6, 1-1) (Kills-aces-blocks) - Sydney Robertson 6-4-2; Ariel Knights 5-4-0; Chantal Adderley 4-0-1; Betsy Trenckmann 3-1-0; Jennifer Dixon 2-4-3; Coronado Hickman 1-0-1; Totals 21-13-4.0. (Assists) - Jennifer Dixon 15. (Dig leaders) - Molly Marcotte 9; Samantha Tumolo 9

Green Mountain (4-9, 1-1) (Kills-aces-blocks) - Kara Egan 15-3-1; Madison Wage 10-1-2; Megan Roy 10-5-0; Hayley Provost 5-0-2; Jennifer Seredejko 0-6-1; Sarah Davidson 0-6-0; Totals 40-21-4.0. (Assists) - Jennifer Seredejko 34. (Dig leaders) - Kara Egan 14; Madison Wage 11