CASTINE, Maine – Maine Maritime Academy volleyball defeated Bates College, 3-0 (25-17, 27-25, 25-16) on Tuesday night in non-conference action inside of Smith Gymnasium.

With the win, their first straight-set win over the Bobcats since 2011, the Mariners improve to 9-1 overall and will return to action on Saturday when they travel to take on both Tufts and Bowdoin College at Tufts, beginning at 11:00 am. Bates falls to 8-3 on the season.

The Mariners maintained a comfortable lead for most of the first set, claiming the 25-17 victory. The Bobcats fought back from a 24-21 deficit to tie the game at 24-24 and went ahead 25-24 forcing a Mariner timeout. The Mariners battled back and claimed the set 27-25. The Bobcats jumped out to an early lead in the third set but the Mariners found their rhythm to cruise to the straight-set win with a 25-16 victory.

Jessica D'Auria (Hopewell Junction, N.Y.) led the Mariners with 13 kills and added seven digs, and an ace and Rachel Melampy (Marshfield, Mass.) tallied a double-double with a match-high 17 digs and 10 kills, to go along with three blocks and an assist. Avery O'Neal (Burbank, Calif.) contributed 12 digs, five aces, two kills and a block, while Maria Perez (San Juan, Puerto Rico) had 11 digs, an assist and an ace and Sydney Adams (Trumbull, Conn.) recorded a double-double of her own with a match-high 31 assists and 13 digs, while also contributing five kills, three aces and two blocks.

Taylor Stafford-Smith led the Bobcats with 11 digs and seven kills, while teammate Julia Panepinto added 12 assists and seven digs.