Women’s Volleyball Clinches Playoff Berth with Tri-Match Sweep in Regular Season Finale

FARMINGDALE, N.Y. — The St. Joseph's College (Brooklyn) women's volleyball team (12-10, 5-5 Skyline) took on Farmingdale State College (9-22, 6-4 Skyline) and Yeshiva University (1-15, 0-10 Skyline) in Farmingdale for a Skyline tri-match and their regular season finale on Sunday. The Bears swept the day, coming back for a five-set win over Farmingdale and sweeping Yeshiva in quick fashion.

With the two victories, SJC has clinched their first postseason berth since joining the Skyline Conference and will take on sibling rival SJC Long Island in the first round.

The Bears have also won five-straight games, their longest win-streak since 14 in the 2008 season. At 12-10, the Bears have also clinched their third-straight .500 season and their first season above .500 since 2013 (14-8).

How It Happened vs. Farmingdale
The Rams raced out to a 10-4 lead in the first on an Annie Cosgrave ace, but St. Joseph's mounted a 10-4 run to tie the score at 14 with kills from three different players. Another 10-4 spurt, this time from FSC, gave them match point at 24-18. The Bears scored four-straight to cut the deficit to two, but Kelly Voiklis pounded a kill to win the set for the hosts.

SJC bounced back nicely in the second outscoring the Rams 13-5 in the middle of the set behind three kills from Valentina Urgo (Astoria, N.Y./St. John's Prep) for a comfortable 18-12 advantage. They ended the frame strong on a 7-1 run to capture a 25-16 victory and knot the match at one game apiece.

The third set was a back-and-forth affair the Bears only lead for two points despite being within three for most of the stanza. Urgo notched a kill to bring the Bears within one late (24-23) but Voiklis responded with a kill of her own to give the Rams a 25-23 triumph and 2-1 lead in games.

Set number four was was neck-and-neck as well until a late 9-2 run from the Bears preserved their season and gave them a 25-21 victory capped off by a kill from Urgo.

An Urgo Kill put them up 9-4 as they began the fifth set and the lead remained at five as they were two points away from victory at 13-8. The Rams didn't go down easily, however, using a 7-2 spurt to tie things at 15. Back-and-forth play ensued as the teams were tied at 17, but a kill from Cristina Morales (Brooklyn, N.Y./St. Edmund Prep) and an FSC gave the Bears a 19-17 win and their fourth Skyline triumph of 2018.

How It Happened vs. Yeshiva
The Bears dominated the opening stanza winning 25-7 featuring seven unanswered points that sealed the set and gave them a 20-5 lead. Briana Marrazzo (East Elmhurst, N.Y./St. John's Prep) finished Yeshiva off with back-to-back aces putting them up 1-0 in games.

Set two was no different as SJC raced out to a 14-1 lead and didn't look back. Kills from six different Bears and a plethora of opponent errors allowed them to cruise to a 25-8 victory and a commanding 2-0 lead for the match.

The third frame saw the Maccabees reach double-digits mainly due to many SJC errors. The Bears hung on though, winning 25-14 for a sweep of the day and a spot in the Skyline playoffs for the first time ever. Marrazzo contributed seven points in the set as the junior helped secure her team's place in the postseason.

For the Bears

• Urgo notched a double-double with 13 kills and 25 digs against Farmingdale, as did Morales with 13 kills of her own and 23 digs in game one.
• Marrazzo added another double-double (10 kills, 19 digs) versus FSC (10 kills vs. YU) and Makayla Beehler (Rockaway Beach, N.Y./St. Edmund Prep) joined the double-double party in game one putting up 32 assists and 20 digs (19 ast vs. YU).
• Kayla Ostermann (Glendale, N.Y./Queens Metropolitan) brought up 14 digs against Farmingdale and Nicole Leone (Brooklyn, N.Y./Bishop Kearney) put up 14 digs and four aces in the same game.

Next Up for the Bears
The first round of the Skyline Championships taking on SJC Long Island on the road on Tuesday (Oct. 30) with the time TBD.