CASTINE, Maine — The Maine Maritime Academy volleyball team cruised to a 3-0 victory over SUNY Cobleskill on Saturday in Smith Gym, advancing to the North Atlantic Conference (NAC) Championship match.

Maine Maritime (20-8) impressed from the opening serve, jumping out to a 10-3 lead in the first set and dominating 25-9 to take the opener.

After SUNY Cobleskill (9-17) scored the first point of the second set, the Mariners responded with three straight points and quickly built a commanding 14-2 advantage on their way to a 25-11 win and a 2-0 match lead.

The third set was all Mariners, as they raced out to an 8-0 start and stretched the margin to 19-4 before closing out the match with a 25-8 victory and a clean 3-0 semifinal sweep.

Maine Maritime turned in one of its most efficient offensive performances of the season, hitting an impressive .632 as a team—including a .667 mark in the first set, .462 in the second, and an astounding .810 in the final frame. The Mariners also tallied 12 service aces and committed only two receiving errors.
Junior Sydney Williams led the way with 20 kills and no errors, hitting .833 for the match. Fellow junior Ally Hadley added nine kills and just one error (.533), while senior Ila Smith finished with eight kills and no errors (.889). Senior Sophia Biggie contributed four kills and two blocks, and senior Hunnie Zuber-Stephens dished out 35 assists to go with three kills.

Sophomore Hannah Tate posted a match-high nine digs and seven assists, while Hadley added seven digs and four aces.

With the win, Maine Maritime advances to the NAC Championship match, which will be played Saturday at 1 p.m. in Smith Gym.