Women’s Volleyball Overcomes Two-Set Deficit, But Falls in Five to Maritime

THROGGS NECK, N.Y. — For the third time this season, the St. Joseph's College (Brooklyn) women's volleyball team forced a deciding fifth set after trailing 2-0, but the Bears comeback bid against Maritime College came up short on Thursday evening in a 3-2 loss (25-23, 25-18, 22-25, 19-25, 15-5).

Freshman Cristina Morales (Brooklyn, N.Y./St. Edmund Prep) led the attack with a career-high 17 kills, while classmate Makayla Beehler (Rockaway Beach, N.Y./St. Edmund Prep) handed out 37 assists.

How it Happened

The Bears (5-8, 1-3 Skyline) erased a 5-0 deficit to open the match and neither team built more than a three-point lead the rest of the set. SJC led late in the frame, 23-22, but the hosts won the final three points to take the opening set.

Despite the Privateers (5-11, 2-2 Skyline) pounding 17 kills at a .424 clip in the second set, the Bears remained close trailing 17-16 in a set that featured 10 ties and six lead changes. But an 8-2 Maritime run to close put the hosts up 2-0 in sets.

St. Joseph's led by as many as five on three occasions in the third but Maritime took the lead back at 16-15. With the third set knotted at 21-all, a Morales kill put the Bears up for good and SJC won four of the final five points to take their first set.

The Bears raced out to a 5-0 lead in the fourth and never trailed to force the deciding set. Morales proved to be the spark in both set wins for the Bears as she slammed 10 kills against only one error for a .529 clip over sets three and four.

Maritime found their footing in the fifth and won five straight to build a 5-1 lead and later assembled a 6-0 run to balloon their advantage to 11-3 and SJC never recovered, finishing with their only negative hitting frame of the match (-.118) with only three kills.

For the Bears

• Morales hit an efficient .389 for the match slamming a career-high 17 kills against only three errors. The reigning Skyline Rookie of the Week also brought up 14 digs for her fourth double-double of the season.
• Beehler fell one shy of her career best with 37 assists, her third game with 30-or-more dimes. Adding 15 digs, five kills, and four aces, the freshman compiled her fifth double-double of the season.
• Ostermann matched her career best with eight kills and added seven digs and an ace.
• Valentina Urgo (Astoria, N.Y./St. John's Prep) chipped in seven kills and lead the defense with 19 digs.
• Briana Marazzo (East Elmhurst, N.Y./St. John's Prep) logged six kills with 10 digs and a solo block.
• Seven different Bears recorded a kill.

Next Up for the Bears

The Bears travel to defending Skyline champion Merchant Marine Academy on Sunday (Oct. 14) for a tri-match with Sarah Lawrence. First serve against the Mariners is set for 11 a.m. with live stats and video available on SJCBears.com