Volleyball Beats Purchase In Straight Sets on Senior Night
By Tara Gleason ('11)
The Lady Bears Volleyball Team sent their seniors off in a blaze of glory with a victory against Purchase College Monday night (continuing their 11 game winning streak) in front of a large crowd full of memorable faces such as the men's basketball team and friends and family members supporting the shining stars of the night: seniors Tamara Bulatovic, Jaime Mascetti, Bala Huseinovic and Justine Sheha.
The Lady Bears were pumped and fired up from the significance of the night and they didn't let their seniors down by sweeping Purchase the first game 25-15. Senior Justine Sheha(Brooklyn, NY / Fontbonne) started the ball rolling with 7 straight service points starting at 6-5, prompting a Purchase timeout, and captain setter Jaime Mascetti (Queens, NY / St. John's Prep) helped close out the set with 9 straight service points giving St. Joe's set point.
The second set was tense and nail-biting where the Panthers caused the Lady Bears to fight for every point. Both teams consistently sided out and neither could gain more than a two point advantage. The turning point occurred late in the set with St. Joseph's gaining a 22-21 lead on a hitting error from Purchase's Mickaela Olson which they extended to 23-21 on a kill from Mascetti. With the momentum in their favor, Purchase committed another hitting error to give the Lady Bears set point. After a Purchase side out, St. Joseph's closed out the set on another Mascetti kill, who had 4 in the set.
The final set started in St. Joseph's flair, the Lady Bears immediately gaining a 5-1 lead. However, Purchase slowly crept back into the set behind the serve of Lindsay Froman and Katelyn Shankey and built an 11-14 lead, assisted by several Lady Bears errors. St. Joe's pulled it back together behind senior Tamara Bulatovic(Queens, NY / Grover Cleveland) who served 7 straight points with 3 aces to regain the lead and bring the lead to 22-17, ultimately closing out the set at 25-18, earning their 11th match in a row.
This certainly was a night to smile about especially for the senior girls who all contributed in the win. Tamara Bulatovic led all hitters with 16 kills and 8 digs. Captain setter Jaime Mascetti, dished out 22 assists and added 8 kills and 4 digs. Justine Sheha had 4 assists, 3 digs and 1 kill, while Bala Huseinovic (Brooklyn, NY / New Utrecht) chipped in 4 digs and 3 kills.
Following the match, the seniors were honored by a beautiful ceremony with each underclassmen presenting each senior with beautiful flowers, sincere reflective farewells, plaques of participation, and their own action poster memento. Former coach Michael Schober was also present and added his own farewell for the honorees read by the underclassmen. After many tears, smiles, and good hearty laughs, the entire St. Joseph's family were treated to a grand homemade buffet prepared by Jaime Mascetti's mother.