St. Joseph’s Poised to Make Deep Run in HVWAC Tournament

BROOKLYN, NY - The St. Joseph's College women's volleyball team, looking for their sixth HVWAC Championship in seven years, received some good news last night as Pratt defeated Yeshiva in the final conference game of the year. The Cannoneers victory launched the Lady Bears from the #5 seed to the #4 seed, thus setting up an opening round match against the Yeshiva Maccabees Thursday night at Hunter College at 8:30 pm.

With Pratt's victory, the Lady Bears play host to the Yeshiva Maccabees instead of having to play on the road against Medgar Evers. St. Joseph's defeated the Maccabees in straight sets last week in their regular season matchup.

The HVWAC has been incredibly close, so it should come as no surprise that the seedings weren't finalized until the final game of the regular season. Coming into the final week of the season, there were three teams vying for the #1 seed putting pressure on every conference match.  The difference between the #1 seed and the #6 seed is only three games. A win or loss could have been a swing of four spots, setting up what should be an exciting conference tournament.

The red hot Sarah Lawrence Gryphons, winners of six straight matches, went 4-1 in the Conference to capture the #1 seed in the tournament and a first round bye. They will play the winner of #4 St. Joseph's and #5 Yeshiva in the semi-finals. The Lady Bears lost a close five set battle with the Gryphons during the regular season.

The College of New Rochelle earned the #2 seed via tiebreaker over Medgar Evers. They also have a first round bye and await the winner of #3 Medgar Evers and #6 Pratt for their semi-final match.

The quarterfinal matches both take place on Thursday night with the semi-finals and finals happening on Sunday, October 31 at the College of New Rochelle, starting at noon.