THE BASICS:
 
- Score: No. 18 MIT 3, Maine Maritime Academy 0 (25-7, 25-11, 25-18)
 
- Records: No. 18 MIT (25-5), Maine Maritime (21-4)
 
- Location: Medford, Mass. (Cousens Gymnasium)
 
- The Lead: Nationally-ranked No. 18 MIT opened up the NCAA Division III Women's Volleyball Championship Tournament by defeating Maine Maritime Academy, 25-7, 25-11, 25-18, on Thursday afternoon.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED:
 
- Set 1: MIT jumped out to a 9-2 lead and cruised to a 25-7 victory, capped by a kill from first-year Claire Underwood (Yorba Linda, Calif.).
 
- Set 2: Trailing 3-1, a kill by senior Alyssa Unell (Scottsdale, Ariz.) sparked a 13-2 run which put the Engineers ahead for good as they went on to record a 25-11 victory.
 
- Set 3: The early stages of the third set were closely played as there were four ties and two lead changes. Knotted at 12, back-to-back kills by sophomore Lauren Keller (Albuquerque, N.M.) along with a kill from sophomore Ella Gragg (Morganton, N.C.) created some breathing room for MIT. Maine Maritime capitalized on a hitting error and a kill to come within 15-14, but another kill from Keller coupled with a ball-handling error increased the Engineers' cushion and prompted a timeout by the Mariners. A serving error narrowed the gap to 17-15 for Maine Maritime, however, a kill by Gragg kicked off a 6-1 run. The Mariners chipped away at the deficit as an ace brought them within 23-18.  MIT went on to capture the win courtesy of a kill by first-year Ali Gibbs (Chagrin Falls, Ohio) and a setting error by Maine Maritime.
 
INSIDE THE NUMBERS:
 
- Unell generated eight kills on 11 errorless attempts for a .727 hitting performance to go along with two blocks and two aces. Keller finished with eight kills and two aces while Gragg contributed seven kills to the Engineers' balanced attack.
 
- Junior Ashley Margetts (Brownsburg, Ind.) registered three aces as junior Emily Cheng (Sunnyvale, Calif.) tallied 31 assists and nine digs. Sophomore Ottavia Personeni (Bethesda, Md.) led all players with 16 digs while Gibbs and senior Lilly Edwards (Kansas City, Mo.) both recorded three blocks.
 
- This was the third meeting between both squads as all three have occurred during the first round of the NCAA Tournament. MIT defeated Maine Maritime, 30-13, 30-6, 30-14, in 2007 and 25-15, 25-13, 25-16 in 2017.
 
UP NEXT:
 
- MIT will play the University of Scranton in the second round of the NCAA Tournament on Friday, Nov. 11 at 4:30 p.m. at Tufts University.
 
STAY CONNECTED:
 
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