Women's Volleyball Notches Straight-Set Victory Over New Rochelle in Battle of HVIAC Unbeatens

BROOKLYN, N.Y. – Sophomore Lauren GaNun (Breezy Point, N.Y./Fontbonne Hall) and senior Megan Moran (Syosset, N.Y./St. Dominic's) each had double-digit kills as the St. Joseph's College (Brooklyn) women's volleyball team overwhelmed Hudson Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (HVIAC) foe College of New Rochelle on their way to a straight-set victory (25-14, 25-18, 25-14) on Wednesday night at Brooklyn Technical High School.

St. Joseph's (8-5, 3-0 HVIAC) has now won five of their last six matches improving to a season-high three games over .500 while moving a half game behind Culinary for first place in the HVIAC. New Rochelle (13-10, 4-1) has now dropped three matches in a row following a six-match winning streak and falls into third place in the conference with the loss.

GaNun led the Lady Bears offense finishing with a match-high 13 kills while also notching seven digs. Moran finished the night right behind with her 12 kills and six digs while hitting an efficient .308. Sophomore Anna Carbone (Ozone Park, N.Y./Mary Louis) and junior Jennifer Moncino (Ridgewood, N.Y./Archbishop Molloy) each brought up double-digit digs in helping lead the St. Joseph's defense finishing with 14 and 10 respectively. Senior Sabrina Cornia (Miller Place, N.Y./Miller) was the orchestrator of a Lady Bears offense that hit an efficient .278 against the first place Blue Angels finishing with a match-high 23 assists.

New Rochelle was led by three-time HVIAC Player of the Week Meghan King who recorded her 10th double-double of the year with her 10 kills and 10 digs.

St. Joseph's defense  was the story of the match as they gave the New Rochelle offense fits all night as the Blue Angels finished with a negative hitting percentage in each set and concluded the match hitting -.054.

The Lady Bears overwhelmed the Blue Angels right from the beginning as New Rochelle looked overmatched by the St. Joseph's offensive attack with the Lady Bears jumping out to an early 8-1 lead in the opening set forcing a quick New Rochelle timeout. St. Joseph's would not look as they led the period from start to finish building their largest lead of the set at 22-11 on a kill by GaNun.

The conclusion of the first set had the Blue Angels searching for answers to stop the Lady Bears offensive attack and they found some in the opening of the second set as they built an 11-10 lead. However, St. Joseph's regrouped and went on a 15-7 run to close the stanza and build a 2-0 advantage heading to the third set.

The final set saw the Lady Bears come out on fire as they started with seven unanswered points leaving New Rochelle frustrated as they could not solve the St. Joseph's defense. The Lady Bears built a 16-5 lead helped by five kills from GaNun and Moran and coasted the rest of the way for the victory.  

The Lady Bears return to action tomorrow trying to move into a first place tie with Culinary as they host HVIAC foe Medgar Evers at Brooklyn Technical High School. First serve is set for 7:30 p.m.