Women's Volleyball Takes Down Cooper Union in Season Opener

NEW YORK, N.Y. –  The St. Joseph's (Brooklyn) women's volleyball team was led by an offensive barrage as they grabbed a straight-set victory (25-14, 25-10, 25-11) over Cooper Union on Friday night in the season opener at Simon Baruch Middle School.

The Lady Bears (1-0) dominated from the onset of the match finishing the night hitting .304 with 23 kills and 26 service aces. The team started a bit slow in the first set, but recovered mid-way through the set to erupt on the offensive end. 

Junior Lauren GaNun (Breezy Point, N.Y./Fontbonne Hall) led the team with a match-high nine kills. Jennifer Moncino (Ridgewood, N.Y./Archbishop Molloy) had six and junior Anna Carbone (Ozone Park, N.Y./Mary Louis) chipped in with five kills for the Lady Bears.

The whole St. Joseph's team contributed with their 26 service aces. Seven of the eight Lady Bears that played had at least one ace. Carbone paced the Lady Bears with a team-high seven aces, while senior and rookie senior Shannon Rom (Breezy Point, N.Y./Bishop Kearney) had six of her own. Samantha Cacace (Brooklyn, N.Y./St. Edmund Prep) was the top facilitator for St. Joseph's, dishing out 19 of the team's 21 assists.

Cooper Union (0-1) was led by Antonia Stoyanovich who had a team-high five kills, while Neena Aggarwal topped the Lady Hawks with seven assists in a losing cause.

In the opening set, the Lady Bears fell behind in the early stages, but after taking a 7-6 advantage they never trailed the rest of the match. Rom was a big part of the team taking the first set, rattling off five straight service aces en route to eight straight points.

The second stanza saw a repeat performance by St. Joseph's as they rolled through the Lady Hawks by jumping out to a 15-4 lead, before closing out the set with a Cacace service ace to go up 2-0.

The third set saw St. Joseph's maintain their momentum from the previous two, racing out by taking the first nine points in a row. After taking a timeout when down 20-6, Cooper Union cut the lead down to 23-11. Moncino followed with a kill and a service ace to clinch the season opener for the Lady Bears.

St. Joseph's returns to action on Tuesday, Sept. 9 for a non-conference match at the College of Staten Island starting at 7 p.m.