Women’s Volleyball Moves Over .500 Mark Outlasting Lehman in Five Sets at Home

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BROOKLYN, N.Y. — Sophomore Nina DiCioccio (Brooklyn, N.Y./St. Edmund Prep) matched a career-high 14 kills, nearly recording a triple-double and freshman Alanna Palomino (Fresh Meadows, N.Y./St. Agnes) handed out 42 assists as the St. Joseph's College (Brooklyn) women's volleyball team commanded the fifth-and-deciding set in taking a 3-2 victory over Lehman College on Tuesday evening at The Hill Center.

The Basics

• Final Score:  St. Joseph's 3, Lehman 2
• Set Scores: 25-18, 22-25, 25-18, 15-25, 15-7
• Records: St. Joseph's (5-4), Lehman (4-12)
• Location: Brooklyn, N.Y. — The Hill Center

How It Happened

• Nina DiCioccio pounded six of her 14 kills and landed six of her eight aces in the opening set and the Bears led by as many as nine and cruised to the opening set victory.
• The second stanza was closely contested and the Bears erased a four-point deficit to draw even at 22-all but three straight kills by Salveira Gonzales drew the Lightning even on sets at 1-all.
• St. Joseph's fell behind early in the third and trailed 11-7 before using a 9-1 run to take the lead for good. Later clinging to a 17-15 lead, four straight points powered a palomino acess and a DiCioccio kill padded the Bears lead for 2-1 set win.
• The Lightning stuck the loudest in the fourth set and ran away with the set using 10-1 run to build a commanding 19-9 lead and the Bears never threatened in the set.
• Despite giving up the fourth set, St. Joseph's took command of the deciding set from the outset. Back-to-back kills from DiCioccio gave SJC the lead for good at 2-1 and she later served up six straight points and the Bears built an 8-2 lead at the side change. Valentina Urgo landed two straight kills and Briana Marrazzo followed with a kill to bring about nine match points and a Lightning miscue sealed the Bears victory.

For the Bears

• Sophomore Nina DiCioccio equaled her career high set twice previously last year with a match-high 14 kills. Pairing up with 14 digs, she recorded her first double-double of the season and third of her career. She also served up eight aces for a new career-best accounting for more than half of the Bears 15 aces in the match.
• Freshman Alanna Palomino dished out a career-best 42 assists on SJC's 49 kills in the match. She fell one dig shy of her third double-double of the season and chipped in four aces.
• Rookie Elizabeth Quahliero finished with double-digit kills for the first time in her career with 11 at a match-best .214 clip and also stuffed two solo blocks and added eight digs.
• Freshman Valentina Urgo posted career highs of nine kills and 16 digs.
• Freshman Briana Marrazzo anchored the defense with a match- and career-high 19 digs with a solo block and added seven kills to the attack.
• Senior Samantha Cacace matched her career-high seven kills set last match.

The Bear Facts

• St. Joseph's ends a nine-match skid to Lehman and closes the gap in the all-time series at 9-4.
• It was the first five-set affair of the season for the Bears and the first since defeating Brooklyn College on Senior Night last season.
• The Bears move to 4-1 this season at home at The Hill Center.
• St. Joseph's is now 14-16 in five-set affairs all time and they have won three of their last four including the 2015 season.
• Palomino's 42 assists ranks tied for fourth among Bears all-time in a single match.

Next up for St. Joseph's

The Bears head south to the Old Dominion state to Virginia Wesleyan College for a tri-match with Roanoke College on Saturday, October 8th starting at 1 p.m. Live stats will be available on SJCBears.com