Lady Bears Volleyball Downs Borough Rivals Brooklyn College in Straight Sets

BROOKLYN, N.Y. – The St. Joseph's College (Brooklyn) women's volleyball team picked up their first win over borough rivals Brooklyn College in four tries, taking a straight-set victory, 3-0 (25-23, 25-16, 25-22), on Wednesday night at Brooklyn Technical High School in the second of three Cancer Awareness Games taking place this week.

The Lady Bears (8-3, 2-0 HVWAC) were led by freshman Lauren GaNun (Breezy Point, NY/Fontbonne Hall) who pounded a match-high 16 kills with a .483 hitting percentage.  Junior Megan Moran (Syosset, NY/St. Dominic's) added 12 kills, the only other player to finish in double figures.

Junior Sabrina Cornia (Miller Place, NY/Miller Place HS) directed the offense, which hit .277 for the match, handing out 33 assists. Freshman libero Anna Carbone (Ozone Park, NY/Mary Louis) brought up a match-high 17 digs.

The Lady Bears landed seven service aces bringing their total to 20 with one match remaining in their "Serving for a Cure" fundraiser.

The Bulldogs (3-13, 2-4 CUNYAC) were paced by junior Jillian Escobar who had a team-high eight kills along with eight digs and a match-high four aces. Escobar currently leads Division III in aces averaging 1.13 per set.  Senior Kathy Chu recorded a double-double with 25 assists and 10 digs.

St. Joseph's raced out of the gates opening a 7-1 advantage to start the game, but Brooklyn came back to take a lead briefly at 12-11. With the set tied at 18-18, the Lady Bears went on a 6-1 run powered by three straight kills from Moran to earn five set points. The Bulldogs fought off four set points before a timely kill from senior Kim Matthews (Breezy Point, NY/Bishop Kearney) gave the opening set to the Lady Bears.

Brooklyn had no answers for the Lady Bears middles in the second set as GaNun produced nine kills in the frame and Moran chipped in five and the team combined for 18 kills at a blistering .429 hitting percentage.  On two separate occasions in the set, GaNun put away three straight kills as St. Joseph's pulled away for a 25-16 set victory.

In the third and final set, the Lady Bears built a 17-10 lead, prompting a Bulldog timeout. Brooklyn slowly chipped away at the deficit, before finally pulling within one, 23-22, threatening to force an extra set.  But a Bulldog attack error gave St. Joseph's match point and only fitting, sophomore Jennifer Moncino (Ridgewood, NY/Archbishop Molloy) closed out the match with an ace.

St. Joseph's welcomes another CUNY foe to Brooklyn Technical High School on Friday, October 12th hosting John Jay College in the final Cancer Awareness Game. First serve is slated for 7:30 pm.