Women’s Volleyball Outlasted by Brooklyn at Home

BROOKLYN, N.Y. — The St. Joseph's College (Brooklyn) women's volleyball team (4-3) hosted borough rival Brooklyn College (6-4) for a non-conference matchup on Tuesday night, falling in four sets (25-23, 21-25, 29-31, 15-25) despite double-doubles from sophomore Cristina Morales (Brooklyn, N.Y./St. Edmund Prep) and Kaitlyn Intindola (Brooklyn, N.Y./Bishop Kearney).

How It Happened
The match opened as a neck-and-neck affair with neither side able to gain much of an edge throughout the first set. The Bears withstood five imposing kills from Brooklyn outside hitter Ashley Fung while both Morales and senior Valentina Urgo (Astoria, N.Y./St. John's Prep) slammed three kills apiece in the frame leading to a 25-23 victory.

Set two was back-and-forth once again with both sides accumulating totals of 12 kills and four aces in the stanza despite Brooklyn out-hitting the Bears .220 to .122. Fung showed consistency, putting up another five kills in the second, and was supported by Madison Cronk's three kills and two aces as the Bulldogs evened the match at 1-1 with a 25-21 triumph.

The third was one for the books with 19 ties and 12 lead changes as each team was looking to gain an edge and build steam for the rest of the match. However, Brooklyn's 19 kills in the period, led by Fung (5 kills), Ezri Shor (5 kills), and Cronk (4 kills), overmatched the Bears as they muscled out a momentum-shifting, 31-29, victory.

SJC ran out of gas in the fourth falling behind 14-4 early on before putting up a slight comeback that fell short as they fell 25-15 to conclude the match. Brooklyn hit .227 in the fourth while the Bears' hitting percentage fell beneath .000 for the first time all match as the Bulldogs secured their sixth win of 2019.

For the Bears

• Morales had 13 kills and 11 digs for her double-double while Intindola put up 28 assists and 19 digs.
• Urgo slammed nine kills of her own with a team-high 22 digs.
• Senior Briana Marrazzo (East Elmhurst, N.Y./St. John's Prep) added eight kills and 16 digs in the loss.

Next Up
A return to Skyline action traveling to sibling rival SJC Long Island next Wednesday (Sep. 25) with first serve set for 7 p.m. Live stats will be available at SJCBears.com/live.