NEW LONDON, Conn. – The Connecticut College women's volleyball team split a tri-match with Worcester State University and the Coast Guard Academy on Saturday afternoon at Roland Gymnasium.

In the first match of the day, the Camels downed the Lancers 3-0 by set scores of 25-19, 25-11 and 25-19. Mila Chan (San Francisco, Calif.) led the way with a match-high 11 kills while Evie Lockwood Mullaney (Larkspur, Calif.) added nine.

The Camels took the first two sets against Coast Guard but couldn't close out the match. The Bears rallied back to take the 3-2 victory by set scores of 10-25, 18-25, 25-17, 25-16 and 25-10. Chan once again paced all competitors with 16 kills while Lockwood Mullaney and Rae Wartelle (Tacoma, Wash.) chipped in 10 apiece.

Conn, which moved to 6-1 overall on the season, will next play at the University of Saint Joseph on Tuesday, September 17 at 6:00 p.m.

Game 1 – Conn College 3, Worcester State 0

Wartelle and Chan came out firing at the start, as both recorded five kills in the opening set to get the Camels on track early. Conn took control behind a 9-1 run that yielded a 13-7 lead, and the Lancers never got closer than three the rest of the way.

Conn never trailed in the second set thanks to a 9-2 start. Chan continued to put in work with six kills in the frame, equaling the output of the entire Worcester State squad.

Midway through the final set, the Camels ripped off 11 straight points on the service of Emma Hoffmann (Salt Lake City, Utah) to build a 17-8 advantage. Hoffmann recorded all three of her aces during the stretch, and Lockwood Mullaney and Riley Lord (Exeter, N.H.) each added a pair of kills.

Josie Kelly (Solana Beach, Calif.) paced the offense with 26 assists while Caroline Festersen (Omaha, Neb.) led the defense with 18 digs.

Maeve Cadogan led the Lancers (2-6 overall) with five kills. 

Game 2 – Coast Guard 3, Conn College 2

Conn jumped on Coast Guard early in the second match of the day, going up 8-2 at the start and eventually pushing the margin to as many as 15 in the opening set. Five Camels had multiple kills in the stanza, led by Chan with four. The momentum carried over into the second set, where the visitors never trailed and used a late 8-2 stretch to take a 2-0 advantage in the match.

The Bears began the comeback with an impressive finish in the third set. After Conn tied the score at 14-14 on an ace by Chan, Coast Guard responded by winning 11 of the next 14 points to extend the match. The hosts then jumped out to an 8-2 lead in the fourth and never let the Camels back into the set.

With the score tied at 7-7 in the deciding fifth set, it was the Bears who made one final push down the stretch. Coast Guard won eight of the final 11 points to power to victory, with Samantha Ventimiglia accounting for kills on three of the team's final four points.

Kelly handed out a season-high 44 assists for the Camels, and Katherine Randall (Chicago, Ill.) and Taylor Merrifield (Honolulu, Hawaii) finished with 23 and 20 digs, respectively. 

Amelia Watson and Eloise Shirley led Coast Guard (7-3 overall) with 10 kills apiece.