Women’s Volleyball Tripped Up at Home by CCNY

BROOKLYN, N.Y. — The St. Joseph's College (Brooklyn) women's volleyball team (6-7) suffered a straight-set non-conference setback, 3-0 (25-9, 28-26, 26-24)  to City College of New York (4-5) on Tuesday evening at The Hill Center.

Sophomore Cristina Morales (Brooklyn, N.Y./St. Edmund Prep) paced the Bears with eight kills and three aces.

How It Happened

The Bears had a sluggish start coming off a five-set comeback road win the previous night and CCNY raced out to a 15-1 lead to open the match and cruised in the opening set hitting .588 in the frame with no errors.

But the Bears came alive in highly-contested second and third sets that saw 18 ties and 11 lead changes. 

SJC wiped out a late five-point deficit, 19-14, in set two and pulled even at 23-all. After back-to-back kills from Julie Boyd (Staten Island, N.Y./Notre Dame Academy) and Teuta Hoxha (Kew Gardens, N.Y./Queens Metropolitan) the Bears earned a set point at 26-25, but the visitors won the next three points to take a 2-0 set lead.

The Bears erased another sizable deficit in the third after falling behind 15-8 responding with a 9-1 run to take a 17-16. The navy and gray built as large as a three-point advantage at 20-17 before the Beavers ran off six straight for a 23-20 edge. SJC then responded with four unanswered after a CCNY miscue, a Morales ace, and back-to-back kills from Valentina Urgo (Astoria, N.Y./St. John's Prep) to earn another set point, 24-23, only to see CCNY close out the match with three-straight points. 

For the Bears

• Morales had team-highs of eight kills, three aces, and 13 digs.
• Seniors Briana Marrazzo (East Elmhurst, N.Y./St. John's Prep) and Urgo shared team-high honors with Morales with 13 digs. Urgo chipped in six kills and an ace, while Marrazzo added four kills and a block.
• Freshman Kaitlyn Intindola (Brooklyn, N.Y./Bishop Kearney) handed out 18 assists and contributed three kills.

Next Up

After back-to-back matches, the Bears have a week off before returning to Skyline Conference play on Tuesday, October 8 facing Maritime College in a road tilt starting at 7 p.m. in Throggs Neck, N.Y. Live stats and video will be available at SJCBears.com/live.