NEW LONDON, N.H. – Maine Maritime Academy volleyball advances to their ninth-straight conference title match with a 3-1 win over Castleton on Friday night at Colby-Sawyer College.

The Spartans claimed the first set, 26-24, but the Mariners came back to take the following three sets, using an 8-2 run to take a 18-10 lead to claim the 25-17 win in the second set. The Mariners went on an 8-0 run to tie things up at 13-13 to top Castleton 25-19 in the third set. Maine Maritime did not look back in the fourth set, using a 7-0 spurt to take a 25-19 victory to claim the win.

NAC Player of the Year Gillian O'Neal (Burbank, Calif.) anchored the Mariners with 19 digs and 16 kills, while NAC Rookie of the Year Tess Clark (Spring, Texas) was also impressive with 15 kills, 14 digs and two blocks. Melissa Spaulding (Fairbanks, Alaska) dished out a season-high 46 assists with 13 digs while Jessica Menges (Old Forge, N.Y.) had 12 kills and 16 digs.

Brittany Brayman recorded nine kills and 17 digs to lead the Spartans, while Alex Madsen added a double-double of 16 assists and 12 digs with two blocks and two aces and Amanda Chambers recorded 17 digs and five kills.

The Mariners (18-12) advance to the North Atlantic Conference Championship against Colby-Sawyer tomorrow at 11:30 am