Women’s Volleyball Sweeps CCNY in Home Opener

BROOKLYN, N.Y. — The St. Joseph's College (Brooklyn) women's volleyball team improved to 2-0 on the young season with a straight-set, 25-18, 25-18, 25-17, win at The Hill Center on Tuesday evening. It was the first home game on campus in 567 days since the 2020 Skyline Conference Women's Basketball Championship first round game.

Senior Cristina Morales (Brooklyn, N.Y./St. Edmund Prep) led all attackers with nine kills and added an ace and a block. Junior Kaitlyn Intindola (Brooklyn, N.Y. / Bishop Kearney) dished out 21 assists and also served up five aces. Freshman Martina Urgo (Astoria, N.Y./St. John's Prep) chipped in six kills at a .312 clip and landed four aces.

How It Happened

• St. Joseph's raced out to a 6-1 lead in front of an excited home crowd but the visitors came back to tie the set at 7-all and later took the lead at 12-10. But the Bears rattled off five straight and closed out the set on an 8-2 run. Morales finishing with five kills in the stanza. 
• The second set was back and forth with seven ties and four lead changes until CCNY creeped out to a 12-10 lead. The Bears then won six in a row for a 16-12 lead -- prompting a Beaver timeout — and never trailed again. 
• SJC built a 5-1 lead to open the third and the Beavers pulled within one, but the Bears remained on top assembling their most efficient set hitting .231 and combining for 11 kills, led by Urgo's five kills and two aces. Intindola added three aces including two over a 5-0 run to close out the match.

For the Bears

• Sophomore Grace Kane (Breezy Point, N.Y./Fontbonne Hall) led the defense with team-highs of seven digs and two solo blocks, also adding four kills.
• Junior Teuta Hoxha (Kew Gardens, N.Y./Queens Metropolitan) chipped in three kills and Ayomide Adeoye (Brooklyn, N.Y./Edward R. Murrow) had a pair of kills and a block.
• The 2-0 start is the first for the Bears since the 2012 season.
• SJC has won four of the last five meetings and improves to 5-3 in the all-time series dating back to 2004.

Next Up

The Bears will look to remain unbeaten traveling to borough foes Brooklyn College on Thursday, September 16. The streaking Bulldogs are on a four-game winning streak and have a 4-1 record — all against Skyline opponents.

First serve is set for 6 p.m. but spectators are currently not allowed. Links to follow the game will be available at sjcbears.com/live.