Women’s Volleyball Caps .500 Campaign With Straight-Set Triumph Over Old Westbury

BROOKLYN, N.Y. — The St. Joseph's College (Brooklyn) women's volleyball team wrapped up their first .500 campaign in three seasons defeating SUNY College at Old Westbury in straight sets in a season-ending Skyline Conference tri-match on Sunday. The Bears dropped a four-set decision to Maritime College in the first match of the day and closes out their second season in the Skyline Conference in ninth place.

The Basics

• Final Score (Match 1): Maritime 3, St. Joseph's 1
• Set Scores: 25-12, 18-25, 25-23, 25-10
• Final Score (Match 2): St. Joseph's 3, Old Westbury 0
• Set Scores: 25-13, 25-15, 25-17
• Records: St. Joseph's (12-12, 3-8), Maritime (14-14, 6-5), Old Westbury (4-21, 2-9)
• Location: Throggs Neck, N.Y. — Reisenberg Hall Gym

How It Happened vs. Maritime

• The Privateers seized the opening set winning 11 of 12 points breaking open a frame lead by more than three points.
• The Bears took the lead early in set two and never relinquished it leveling the match at 1-1 behind four kills from Nina DiCioccio and three errorless kills by freshman Valentina Urgo in the set.
• Riding the momentum from set two, SJC took another early lead and built as large as an eight-point advantage at 16-8 that prompted a Maritime timeout and reversed the course of the set. The Privateers leveled the frame at 20-all and after two more ties, the hosts earned two set points and converted on their second to steal the set 25-23.
• SJC got off to a slow start in set four as Maritime won the first six points and the Bears couldn't dig themselves out of the early hole and managed just 10 points in the final frame.

How It Happened vs. Old Westbury

• The Bears jumped out to an early five-point lead before Old Westbury came back to tie the opening set 13-all. But behind the strong service of Elizabeth Quahliero who served up five aces, SJC ran off 11 straight points to close out the set.
• SJC trailed momentarily at 7-6 in the second stanza before a 5-0 run gave the Bears the lead for good. Quahliero continued her strong play with four error-free kills and Urgo and Briana Marrazzo added three kills each as SJC slammed 13 kills at a .379 hitting in the set.
• An 10-2 run sparked by three kills from senior Samantha Rossi built the Bears a 15-7 cushion in set three and they rode it to the season-ending win.

For the Bears

• Freshman Elizabeth Quahliero led the Bears attack of the tri-match slamming eight kills in each match and hit .231 on the afternoon. She also served up eight aces in the win over Old Westbury.
• Rookie Briana Marazzo pounded 10 kills in the finale vs. Old Westbury and recorded her fourth game this season with double-digit kills. In addition to hitting .333 for the match, she also landed four aces.
• Sophomore Nina DiCioccio planted nine kills against Maritime and totaled 13 kills over the tri-match.
• Freshman Alanna Palomino recorded her sixth double-double of the season with 24 assists and 10 digs against Maritime. She capped off her rookie campaign with 21 assists in the win over Old Westbury.
• Freshman Valentina Urgo contributed 11 kills and 25 digs over the twinbill,
• Senior Samantha Cacace finished with 25 digs and crossed the 500-dig mark, totaling 516 digs over her four-year career.
• Senior Samantha Rossi played her last match in a Bears uniform putting away a season-high four kills in the win over the Panthers.

The Bear Facts

• The .500 campaign was the first since the Bears 14-8 season in 2013. The Bears have finished .500 or above in five out of nine seasons with Head Coach Kathleen O'Neill at the helm.
• SJC wins their third straight over Old Westbury and improves to 6-3 all-time against the Panthers. Maritime takes both meetings in the series that started last season.