OWINGS MILLS, Md. – Senior Shannon Baily led the Mustangs with 12 kills as the Stevenson women's volleyball team (25-4, 7-1 MACC) swept Widener (13-14, 5-3 MACC) 3-0 in the MAC Commonwealth Semifinals Wednesday night at Owings Mills gym. Set scores were 25-16, 25-15, 25-19.
 
With the victory, the Mustangs advance to their 10^th consecutive MAC Commonwealth Championship since entering the league in 2012.
 
In the first set, the teams battled through five tie scores and two lead changes before the Mustangs used a 5-1 run to leverage a 16-11 lead and never looked back. Haley Hoover added a kill to spark a three-point run to move the Stevenson lead to 20-13.  
 
A three-point run from the Pride set the frame at 20-16 but the Mustangs riffled off the final five points with kills from Kylie DesLauriers and Shannon Baily. Rileigh Kimball sent home a final ace to give Stevenson the opening frame 25-16.
 
Stevenson led the second set wire-to-wire, hitting .348 in the frame and the only tie score coming at the 1-1 point. An 8-2 run by the Mustangs, which saw two kills and an ace from Baily plus a block from Kimball and Hoover, gave Stevenson a 17-9 lead. Back-to-back aces from Rileigh Kimball moved the lead to 22-11. The Pride strung three-points together to set the frame at 23-15 but a kill from Sarah Straub and an ace from Makala Thompson sealed the set for Stevenson at 25-15.
 
The third set was tightly contested at the start with seven tie scores and three lead changes. The Pride kept the Mustangs in range to the 10-9 mark but a five-point Stevenson rally gave the Mustangs a 15-9 lead and all the separation they would need. Baily, Kimball and Hoover all added kills in the run while Hoover and Kimball paired up for a block.
 
The sides traded points before Widener narrowed the gap to 21-18 with a three-point rally. However, Stevenson tacked on a 4-1 run to take the final set 25-19.
 
Numbers and Notes

• The Mustangs advance to their 10^th consecutive MAC Commonwealth Championship since entering the league in 2012.
• Shannon Baily notched 12 kills, the 15^th time she has eclipsed 10 kills this season and sixth match in a row she has hit the mark.
• Kayla Vaeth tallied 16 digs to her team-leading 445.
• Stevenson added nine aces in the matchup with three each from Shannon Baily and Rileigh Kimball.

What's Next

• Stevenson travels to St. David's, Pa. to take on Eastern in the MAC Commonwealth Championship on Saturday, November 5 at 3pm.
• The teams will square-off in the title match for the second-straight season.
• Eastern ended Stevenson's streak of nine consecutive MAC Commonwealth titles in 2021.