The Background
- Final Score: College of Mount Saint Vincent 3 , St. Joseph's Long Island 0
- Records: College of Mount Saint Vincent (14-16, 9-4 Skyline), St. Joseph's Long Island (23-12, 10-3 Skyline)
- Where: Danzi Center, Patchogue, New York
How It Happened
With their dreams crushed in the Skyline Conference championship a year ago, the Dolphins were ready to take the big stage once again—but this time, they wanted to bring the hardware home. And that's exactly what they've done.
The Dolphins got right to work on the court against St. Joseph's Long Island and their resilience showed in their first set victory as they won 25-18.
In what has been a theme all season long, it was once again the freshmen for the Dolphins who played especially vital roles.
Madison Gale,
Alexandra Madden,
Samantha Schroeder, and
Rianna Rivera accounted for seven kills in the set. Rivera and Gale also combined for five blocks.
The Dolphins played much of the same way in set number two, which they won 25-20. Rivera, Gale, and junior
Dez Brown controlled the net in the second set, combining for six blocks. Aside from Gale's tremendous all around play, junior
Tara Maloney was ready on the offensive end and registered three kills in the frame. Last year's championship defeat obviously played a huge role for the entire team.
The Dolphins could taste a championship early in set three, and they jumped out to a 4-0 lead thanks to Gale's terrific serving. The Golden Eagles crept back in to make it 5-4, with the score remaining close up until the midway mark. CMSV then went on a huge run to get their lead from 9-8 all the way to the victory, which had the Dolphins dominating every aspect of the game while holding the Golden Eagles from getting a chance to cut into the deficit.
At the final buzzer, the Dolphins—who entered the playoffs as the fourth seed—walked out of the Danzi Center as Skyline Conference Champions. And Gale, the freshman standout, walked away with Most Outstanding Player honors due to her terrific performance in all levels of play.
What's Next?
With this victory, the Dolphins earned an automatic bid to the 2018 NCAA Volleyball Tournament. This is CMSV's second championship in four years.