Lady Bears Volleyball Upset By Culinary in HVWAC Semis

HYDE PARK, N.Y. – After entering the 2012 Hudson Valley Women's Athletic Conference Volleyball Tournament as the top seed, the St. Joseph's College (Brooklyn) women's volleyball team saw their hopes for their first league title in five years come to an abrupt end, falling in the semifinal round, 3-1 (25-20, 23-25, 25-17, 27-25), to hosts and defending league champions Culinary Institute of America on Sunday afternoon.

The Lady Bears conclude their season with a 14-7 record, the highest winning percentage in five years and matching last year's win total. Culinary (10-5) took runner up honors falling to No. 2 seed Sarah Lawrence in straight sets in the championship game.

Freshman middle hitter Lauren GaNun (Breezy Point, NY/Fontbonne Hall) led all attackers pounding a match-high 13 kills also adding a solo block.  Senior Kim Matthews (Breezy Point, NY/Bishop Kearney) recorded her 10th double-double of the season posting 10 kills with 19 digs.  Junior Megan Moran (Syosset, NY/St. Dominic's) had 11 kills with two solo blocks.

Junior Sabrina Cornia (Miller Place, NY/Miller Place HS) turned in her fourth double-double of the season by way of 31 assists and 10 digs. Freshman libero Anna Carbone (Ozone Park, NY/Archbishop Molloy HS) had a team-high 21 digs.

Culinary produced a balanced attack with four Steels finishing with double digit kills with Laura Cipolletti, Kara Cusgrove and Allison Penney each putting down a team-best 11 kills and Corinne Williams adding 10 kills.  Cipolletti added 19 digs for a double-double and Kristin McGinn handed out 42 assists with 18 digs for a double-double.

In the opening set, Culinary built an early 10-3 lead off a 7-0 run on the service of Cheyenne Langis and the Lady Bears could never close the game, cutting the deficit to three, 21-18, but unable to get any closer.

The second stanza was highly contested featuring nine ties and four lead changes and Culinary threatened to take a 2-0 set lead jumping out to a 23-20 lead.  But the Lady Bears managed to level the match winning the final five points, four coming off the serve of Jennifer Moncino (Ridgewood, NY/Archbishop Molloy), to shock the hosts. Moran finished with five kills in the frame, including the final point, to lead the Lady bears.

Culinary rebounded to take the third set in convincing fashion, assembling a 9-1 run to build a 15-7 advantage.  St. Joseph's made a charge late in the frame, the gap was too large to overcome, falling 25-17.

For the first time in the match, the Lady Bears jumped ahead early in a set, utilizing a 7-1 run to build a 16-10 advantage.  St. Joseph's built their largest lead in the match 22-15, threatening to force a deciding set, the Lady Bears prevailing in five sets in the regular season meeting. But Culinary came back with an 8-1 run to level the set at 23-23. Both teams traded sideouts and the Steels fought off two Lady Bears set points, before back-to-back kills by Williams clinched the victory for Culinary.

In ceremonies concluding the championships, GaNun, Matthews and Nicole Rios (Astoria, NY/Mary Louis) were all announced to the 2012 HVWAC All-Conference Team.