Riverdale, NY - The College of Mount Saint Vincent's women's volleyball team finished 2018 on top of the Skyline Conference mountain when they went on to defeat Farmingdale State College, the United States Merchant Marine Academy and St. Joseph's College-Long Island, en route to the program's first championship since the 2015 season. Starting tonight, the team will begin their quest to win back-to-back championships when they play host to Mount Saint Mary College in the first round of the Skyline Conference playoffs. 

The Dolphins, who went 19-9 with a conference record of 9-2, finished behind Manhattanville College and USMMA, good for the third seed. The team returned all of their key members from the 2018 championship team, which was the most important reason behind the team's success this year. 

"The experience we gained last year, both in the conference playoffs and the NCAA tournament, helped put us in the position that we are today," head coach Courtney Bernstein told CMSVAthletics.com. "Knowing that a majority of our roster was returning this year gave all of us the confidence that we can make another run at a title."

Reigning Skyline Conference Player of the Year Tara Maloney capped off her stellar career with the Dolphins by leading her team in all major offensive statistical categories during the regular season, including kills, kills per set, points and points per set. Classmate Dez Brown had arguably the best season in her three-year career, as she paced the team in attack percentage (.408) while also recording a team-high 69 blocks. Alexandra Rio returned as one of the more effective liberos in the conference with 273 digs and 3.37 digs per set.

The standout freshman class from a year ago all returned and collectively put together another impressive season, as Samantha Schroeder (248 kills), Alexandra Madden (138 points), Madison Gale (773 assists, 44 service aces) and Rihanna Rivera (.305 attack percentage, 33 blocks) were all constants in the starting lineup. Gabriella Maggi, Lindsay DeBoer, Olivia Kane and Sara Pocas saw their roles increase which helped the team in a major way while Paige Zimmerly, Sayde McDermott, Brianna Ayuso and Gabriela Aparicio proved to be effective when their numbers were called. 

A new season begins tonight for the Dolphins. Make sure you're there to witness it.