Lady Bears Lose Battle with Hudson Valley Rival Culinary

BROOKLYN, NY – Both St. Joseph's and Culinary came into Brooklyn Technical High School undefeated in the conference and met Sunday with the Hudson Valley Women's Athletic Conference regular season title on the line.  It would be Culinary Institute who handed the Lady Bears their first blemish on their conference record defeating them, 3-1, on Sunday afternoon.

St. Joseph's (11-10, 3-1 HVWAC) offense was still in hibernation during the first set. The Steels (10-1, 5-0 HVWAC) had the Lady Bears on their heels as they easily took the first set 25-8. St. Joseph's came out with a little more fire for set number two, keeping the match close until a 10-2 Culinary run blew the set open as they went on to win 25-14.

With the possibility of a sweep looming and the already trailing 10-4, the Lady Bears found their offense and charged to take a 24-20 lead. Set point didn't come so easily though as the Steels mounted a comeback of their own to tie the frame at 24-24. St. Joseph's kept their composure and took the set 27-25 to avoid the sweep.

The win expensed all the energy they had as the Steels took an early lead in set number four which they never relinquished, going on to a 25-19 victory.

Kim Matthews (Brooklyn, NY/Bishop Kearney) led the Lady Bears with 11 kills and three blocks. Nicole Rios (Astoria, NY/Mary Louis) had the hot hand on defense with 11 digs and Sabrina Cornia (Miller Place, NY/Miller High) directed the offense with 24 assists.

Corrine Williams led the Steels with a match-high 18 kills. Teammate Jeanne Casagrande chipped in with 12 kills of her own.

The Lady Bears wrap up their conference schedule on Tuesday, October 25th against Yeshiva University. First serve is scheduled for 8:00 pm.