Vikings Defeat AMCATS 3-1

PAXTON, Mass. – Salem State picked up their third win of the season with a 3-1 victory over the Anna Maria AMCATS on Tuesday evening. The Vikings won 25-13, 20-25, 25-11, 25-17 to improve to 3-11 overall. Anna Maria goes to 4-10.

Genevieve Kempster (Hopedale, Mass.) led the Vikings with 14 kills and six digs. Pamela Diaz (Lynn, Mass.) had a game-high 17 digs off the bench while Eva Haralabatos (Melrose, Mass.) posted 32 assists, seven aces and eight digs. Abigail O'Connor (Gilford, N.H.) chipped in with eight kills and 13 digs while Dawn Eisnor (Medford, Mass.) contributed 14 digs.

Salem State opened a 17-10 lead behind three kills from Kempster. Anna Maria struggled, committing five errors as the Vikings coasted to a 25-13 win. Tied 1-1, Salem state opened up a 14-5 led in the third set as the Vikings earned nine kills in the win. Back-to-back aces by Danielle Sheehan (Walpole, Mass.) made it 23-11 before a kill by Kempster and a service error by Anna Maria gave the set to the Vikings, 25-11.

The Vikings raced out to a 16-8 lead in set four following a kill by Ella Speidel (Beverly, Mass.). The AMCATS cut the deficit to 18-14, but a 7-3 run finished the match as Anna Maria hit just .069 in the final set.

Sarah Burt (Plymouth, Mass) had seven kills for Anna Maria while Julia Tarantino (Pembroke, Mass.) had 19 assists and 11 digs. Serena Dennis (Holyoke, MA) led the team with 17 digs and Ashley Sheehan (Medford, Mass.) accumulated nine aces and five digs.