Three Double-Doubles Lead Women’s Volleyball Past Old Westbury in Five Sets

FARMINGDALE, N.Y. — Senior Valentina Urgo (Astoria, N.Y./St. John's Prep) put away a career-high 14 kills to lead the St. Joseph's College (Brooklyn) women's volleyball team to a 3-2 (21-25, 25-19, 14-25, 25-20) Skyline Conference triumph over SUNY College at Old Westbury on Monday evening in a neutral site match at Farmingdale State College.

The Bears (6-6, 3-2) rallied twice from falling one set down before overwhelming the Panthers (4-6, 1-4) in the fifth set to seal the come-from-behind victory that snapped a two-game skid.

How it Happened

With both teams separated by just one point late in the opening set, Old Westbury scored four of the final five points to win the set 25-21 for a 1-0 lead.

SJC fell behind 8-2 in the second set before rattling off 11 straight, with freshman Teuta Hoxha (Kew Gardens, N.Y./Queens Metropolitan) putting away two kills in the spurt, and the Bears never trailed again in the frame to level the match at 1-set-all.

The Panthers broke away in the third stanza ballooning a 12-11 lead with a 9-1 run to take a 2-1 lead in sets.

The navy and gray opened the fourth set with an 8-1 advantage and never trailed. The Panthers clawed back to within one late in the frame, 22-21, but the Bears used a kill from Kaitlyn Intindola (Brooklyn, N.Y./Bishop Kearney) followed by a pair of kills from Urgo to force a fifth set.

In the deciding set, the Bears assembled a 5-1 spurt to build a 7-3 advantage and never let the hosts back in the frame. SJC hit a whopping .429 (six kills, zero errors) in the final stanza led by three kills and two aces from Cristina Morales (Brooklyn, N.Y./St. Edmund Prep) to complete the comeback.

For the Bears

• Urgo hit .200 for the match and reached 20 digs for the third time this season to record her first double-double of the season and sixth of her career.
• Morales also finished with 20 digs and slammed 11 kills for her second double-double of the season.
• Intindola dished out a career-high 32 assists paired with 11 digs to round out three double-double efforts.
• Senior Briana Marrazzo (East Elmhurst, N.Y./St. John's Prep) served up six aces, put down five kills, stuffed two blocks, and brought up 18 digs in a solid all-around effort.

Next Up

The Bears have a quick turnaround returning to the court tomorrow, October 7 to host City College of New York in a non-conference match starting at 7 p.m. at The Hill Center. Live video and stats will be available on SJCBears.com/live.