NEW LONDON, Conn. (November 8, 2025) – The United States Coast Guard Academy placed five hitters in double figures for kills and rallied from a set down on two occasions to secure a 3-2 (21-25, 25-15, 19-25, 25-20, 15-13) victory over Emerson College in a New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) women's volleyball matchup at Roland Gymnasium this afternoon.
Emerson (14-14, 6-5 NEWMAC) will be seeded sixth for next week's NEWMAC Tournament and will visit third-seeded Springfield College for a quarterfinal round match on Tuesday at 7 p.m. Coast Guard (17-8, 7-4 NEWMAC) earned the No. 5 seed for the NEWMAC Tournament and will visit No. 4 Smith College for a quarterfinal on Tuesday at 7 p.m.
Freshmen Ava Ahokovi and Holly Davis engineered Coast Guard's balanced attack with five in double figures for kills with 31 and 23 assists, respectively. Ahokovi finished off a double-double with 11 digs for the Bears.
Senior Sarah Somer and junior Abby Schweitzer each totaled a team-high 14 kills, while Somer added three blocks (two solo) and five digs, while Schweitzer chipped in two block assists. Freshman Corey Lemmer delivered 11 kills without an error for a .579 hitting percentage, while junior Sam Ventimiglia added ten kills and just one error for a .562 average with eight digs and three blocks.
Sophomore Amelia Matson notched a double-double for Coast Guard with 13 kills and 14 digs, while senior Laila Baameur posted 30 digs and two service aces.
Sophomore Chloe Hokenson paced Emerson with a 20-20 double-double with a match and career-high 22 kills and 21 assists as she hit .391 and added seven digs. Classmate Sophia Schiappa dished out a career-best 31 assists with 13 digs and three aces for the Lions, while junior Rachel Dickerson posted a career-high 19 kills. Junior Lauren Yoo contributed a career-high 30 digs, including the 500th of her career, with seven assists and an ace.
Emerson came out swinging and took the opening set behind 20 kills and just three hitting errors for a .405 team hitting percentage. Hokenson posted seven kills and just one error for a .545 average in the opening set for the Lions, while dishing out seven assists, and Dickerson added six kills without an error on 12 total attacks.
Coast Guard pulled even after two sets by posting a .303 team hitting percentage in the frame. Emerson restored its edge after a third set that saw 12 ties and two lead changes throughout as Hokenson posted four kills without an error on five total attacks and Schiappa distributed the ball for eight assists as six Lions in all recorded kills.
Coast Guard rallied again, forcing a fifth set behind a .400 team hitting percentage in the fourth set as Matson, Somer and Lemmer each chipped in three kills without a hitting error in the frame. Davis and Ahokavi each distributed seven assists for the Bears. Somer paced Coast Guard in the decisive fifth set with six kills (.294), while Ahokavi dished out seven assists. The Bears overcame six kills and no errors on 17 attacks in the fifth set by Hokenson, who delivered two-straight kills to put the visitors up 10-9 in the set. The Bears rallied again, closing out the match with a 6-3 run, including a pair of kills from Somer.
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