NEWPORT NEWS, Va. -- Buoyed by a pair of outstanding efforts from Abby McIntyre and Maddie McCann, the sixth-ranked Christopher Newport volleyball team pieced together a gutsy performance on Thursday evening as the cardiac Captains toppled St. Mary's, 3-2 (25-18, 19-25, 25-19, 27-29, 15-10), during the Capital Athletic Conference semifinals at the Freeman Center.
 
Against the Seahawks, McIntyre roped 23 kills and added 10 digs and two aces. Her 23 kills marked the most by a Captain in a postseason match since head coach Lindsay Birch unloaded 25 against Chowan in the first round of the Dixie Conference Tournament on November 2, 2001.
 
While McIntyre was putting together her second straight 20-kill effort, McCann was economical on the outside. The junior crushed 16 kills on just 33 swings while hitting at a .333 clip. Meanwhile, Rachel Conway also contributed a double-double for CNU after notching 48 assists and 14 digs.
 
On the defensive end, Christopher Newport shined along the net. Hannah Miller registered seven blocks, while Ashley Rock and Katelyn Newsome contributed six apiece. Meanwhile, on the back row, Rachel Close pocketed a team-high 17 digs, and Evelyn Harper contributed 12.
 
With the victory, the Captains improve to 28-2 on the season and advance to the CAC Championship match for the third straight year. Once again, CNU will take on Salisbury in the title bout after the Sea Gulls advanced with a 3-1 win over Mary Washington on Thursday evening. The championship will be held at the Freeman Center on Saturday at 4 p.m.
 
The setback drops St. Mary's to 17-13 on the season. It marks the Seahawks third consecutive five-set loss against the Captains, including an equally epic match in last year's CAC semifinals.
 
After the visitors forced a fifth set with a grueling 29-27 victory in the fourth, the two squads continued their back-and-forth affair early in the final stanza. After the Seahawks inched out to a 5-4 lead, McCann tooled the block to even the score. Two rallies later, following an SMC miscue, Newsome and Rock joined forces on a rejection to snatch a 7-5 advantage.
 
Battling back, the Seahawks eventually won four of the next five rallies to retake a 9-8 lead heading into a CNU timeout. Following the stoppage, the Captains caught fire. Out of the break, Rock won a joust at the net for her third solo block of the match to even the score at nine. Later, after St. Mary's broke the deadlock, CNU retaliated with a breathtaking run to close out the contest.
 
Following an SMC error, Josie Lucernoni took over at the line and helped serve the Captains to a victory. First, she made a great sliding dig to keep one rally alive, which led to another St. Mary's miscue. Then, she kept the visitors off-balance with a slew of strong serves while the front line excelled. First, Miller blistered a dagger off the block to nail down a 12-10 lead entering a Seahawk timeout. After the break, McIntyre did the rest.
 
Stepping up with the game on-the-line, the senior standout blasted a kill off a Seahawk blocker following a great cover by Lucernoni. Later, McIntyre punched a dribbler off another block attempt to lock up match-point at 14-10. Looking to close out the contest in-style, Lucernoni blistered a serve that the Seahawks just barely kept alive. After the overpass cleared the net, McIntyre rose up and demolished the clinching kill with a thunderous shot to lock down the 15-10 triumph.
 
As exciting as the final set was, the entire match was an impressive battle between a pair of highly-motivated teams.
 
Christopher Newport got off to a fast start in the contest as McIntyre and McCann found their rhythm early. McIntyre blistered three quick kills in the first frame before McCann added three of her own, including a bullet off the top of a blocker's head that ricocheted into the back stands. Conway also drilled an ace to highlight a five-point run that carried CNU to a 12-6 lead.
 
Although the Seahawks eventually pulled within three, the Captains kept them at bay. Off a dig by Lucernoni, Conway showed off an impressive vertical as she floated in the air before driving a kill through a double-block attempt to help secure a 20-14 advantage. Shortly thereafter, McCann added two late lasers before McIntyre went cross-court with the final blow to secure a 25-18 victory.
 
In the second set, McCann got off to another fast start as she put her versatility on display. She showed a gentle touch on a textbook tip before flashing her cannon with a gym-rattling rocket on the next rally, which helped CNU pull within one at 8-7. Later, Rock dropped in a quick hitter before Miller added a block and blast to give the Captains a modest 11-10 edge.
 
Refusing to back down, the Seahawks responded. SMC won eight straight rallies to grab the momentum and an imposing 18-11 lead. Although Miller came through with a solo block and Lucernoni blistered an ace to help stunt the surge, the deficit was too large to overcome. McCann added two late kills and Rock came through with a block, but St. Mary's evened the match with a 25-19 triumph in the second.
 
Needing to respond, the Captains got off on the right foot in the third. In a sign of things to come, Rock unleashed a bullet serve that forced an SMC overpass, which McIntyre quickly drove home. Later, she added two more kills, while McCann blew a rocket right through a block attempt to snatch an 8-3 edge and force a St. Mary's timeout.
 
Following the stoppage, Madi Wickens unleashed three hard serves that kept the Seahawks off-balance, which helped lead to a block and blast by Rock and an SMC error. After loosening up the defense, she then dropped in a looping rainbow, which caught St. Mary's off-guard and landed for an ace, which gave CNU a 15-6 advantage.
 
With more than enough breathing room, McIntyre helped close out the set. The senior drilled two kills and lined an ace, which caught the top of the tape and spilled over for a perfectly-placed winner. Later, Newsome blew a kill through a block attempt before a pair of SMC errors gave Christopher Newport a 25-19 victory.
 
Hoping to end the match in the fourth frame, McIntyre continued her run with three quick kills and an ace on the way to a 7-7 deadlock. After St. Mary's wiggled free and grabbed an 11-9 lead, Miller retaliated with two blocks, while McIntyre unleashed another rope to help flip the script and give CNU a modest 15-13 edge.
 
Continuing the seesaw battle, SMC shot back and evened the score at 21 heading into a CNU timeout. Following the break, McIntyre punched another kill before Conway, McCann, and Miller built a seamless wall along the net for a rare triple block to take a 23-21 lead. Unfortunately, the Seahawks never relented.
 
Although CNU eventually earned match-point at 25-24, St. Mary's withstood the pressure and retook the lead. Later, Rock used a tip to tie the score at 26 before McCann fired an absolute tracer to even things again at 27, but SMC capitalized on a pair of late CNU miscues to even the match at two with a 29-27 win in the fourth.
 
Fortunately, the Captains had enough left as McIntyre caught fire again with an tremendous roll in the fifth to help close out the thrilling five-set victory.
 
In addition to her work on the defensive end, Miller chipped in with seven kills during the contest, while Newsome added five. Rock contributed four kills on 10 swings to help balance out the attack as well.
 
St. Mary's was led by Mimi Graf, who contributed a triple-double with 24 assists, 18 digs, and 11 kills. Mandy Goodspeed also added 14 kills for the Seahawks, while Karlee Vaillant tallied 11 and a .391 hitting percentage.
 
---CNU---