Women’s Volleyball Outlasts Green Mountain College to Sweep Tri-Match in Vermont

POULTNEY, Vt.. — A match removed from dropping a five-set loss, the St. Joseph's College (Brooklyn) women's volleyball team came back from a two-set deficit to defeat host Green Mountain College in five sets (22-25, 23-25, 25-14, 25-10, 15-8). The Bears (2-4) wrapped up their trip to Vermont dominating Northern Vermont University-Lyndon in straight sets, (25-13, 25-14, 25-17).

Junior Briana Marrazzo (East Elmhurst, N.Y./St. John's Prep) led the Bears attack slamming 20 kills on the day and recording a double-double against Green Mountain. Freshman Makayla Beehler (Rockaway Beach, N.Y./St. Edmund Prep) handed out 42 assists over the tri-match and served up nine aces in the win over NVU-Lyndon, as the Bears collectively served up 24 aces in the victory.

St. Joseph's 3, Green Mountain 2 (22-25, 23-25, 25-14, 25-10, 15-8)

The opening set saw both offenses operate efficiently in a back-and-forth affair, hitting nearly .300 combined with 29 kills. Marrazzo was nearly unstoppable, slamming seven kills in the set on just eight swings, but the Green Mountain (2-3) closed on a 6-2 run to take the first set that featured 12 ties and seven lead changes.

SJC erased a six-point deficit in set two and pulled ahead at 20-19 but another late run by the Eagles put them ahead two sets to none.

An error-filled third set for the hosts allowed the Bears to coast to a 25-14 victory and gave them some momentum as they used a 10-0 run in the fourth set to pull away and force a deciding fifth set.

In the final frame, St. Joseph's spotted the Eagles a 4-0 lead courtesy of four hitting errors, but the Bears found their footing and assembled a 5-0 run sparked by a Marrazzo ace and a Valentina Urgo (Astoria, N.Y./St. John's Prep) kill to move ahead 6-5. The hosts regained the lead briefly before a Cristina Morales (Brooklyn, N.Y./St. Edmund Prep) kill launched a string of eight unanswered that brought six match points, the navy and white converting on their second to complete the comeback.

Marrazzo would finish with a match-high 13 kills and 11 digs for a double-double. Urgo and Morales slammed eight kills apiece, Morales also leading defensively with a match-high 20 digs. Beehler handed out 28 assists and chipped in three kills, three aces and a pair of blocks.

St. Joseph's 3, Northern Vermont-Lyndon 0 (25-13, 25-14, 25-17)

Beehler opened the second match of the day with six straight service aces and the Bears never trailed at any point of their straight-set victory over the Hornets (0-10).

St. Joseph's dominated from the baseline and served up 24 aces, with six different players recording an ace. Beehler finished with a match-high nine aces while Urgo had seven.

Marrazzo led all attackers again with seven kills with Morales chipping in six at a .417 clip (6-1-12) and Urgo also pounding four.

Next Up for the Bears

Riding their first two wins of the season, the Bears return to New York to face borough rivals Brooklyn College in a road test on Tuesday (Sep. 18) with first serve at 7 p.m.