The College of Staten Island women’s volleyball team took part in a tri-match at St. Joseph’s College – Brooklyn and dropped their opening match against Cedar Crest 3-1. The Dolphins followed that up with a five-set match loss to hosts, St. Joseph’s College-BK, 3-2. The Dolphins dropped to 3-10 with the pair of losses.
Match 1: Cedar Crest 3, Staten Island 1 (25-22, 19-25, 10-25, 22-25)
The Dolphins stole the opening set from the Falcons, earning a 25-22 win to open the match. The Dolphins tallied their highest kills of the match in the opening set, collecting 12 kills on 38 total attacks with just five errors. Leading the pack for the Dolphins was none other than Caitlin Esposito with 14 kills in the match.
Staten Island and Cedar Crest battled out in set one. Neither team had a lead larger than three at any point in the match as both sides were able to score when the opportunity revealed itself. Knotted at 21, the Falcons would have two attacking errors to put the Dolphins up 23-21 late in the set which caused Cedar Crest to call a timeout. The timeout would work for the Falcons as they would come out and collect a kill to make it a one-point set. Margaret O’Malley-Rebovich sealed set one for the Dolphins with a service ace.
CSI led early in the second set, holding a 10-9 lead, however, a 4-0 run by the Falcons would give them the lead for good as the Dolphins were unable to come back and regain the lead. CSI was able to bring it within two, 18-20, but an attacking error would send the point to the Falcons as they would go on to tie the match up at one apiece.
A 9-0 run halfway through the third set would do the Dolphins in as they lost their footing and suffered their worst loss of the day. The Dolphins would fall behind 17-5 and were unable to gain any momentum and find a foothold in the match.
The fourth and final set saw the Dolphins return to form however, it was too little too late. A late surge by Staten Island came up just short as they went on to fall in the final set, 25-22.
Jessica Cafiero tallied 25 assists in the match, while Teresa Maresca and O’Malley-Rebovich each tallied a solo block.
Match 2: St. Joseph’s College – BK 3, Staten Island 2 (25-16, 20-25, 14-25, 25-9, 13-15)
The Dolphins and Bears battled it out in an epic five-set match. Staten Island once again opened up with a win giving them a 1-0 lead in the match. CSI used several mini-runs to stay ahead of the Bears all match and were able to cap it off with a 5-0 run that put the Bears of reach.
The second set went in favor of the Bears in a close five-point set. Staten Island and St. Joseph’s – Brooklyn were tied at 20 down the stretch and it was the Bears that were able to capitalize and go on a 5-0 run to tie the match up at one. The Bears kept that momentum going into the third set and was able to take a 2-1 lead over the Dolphins on their home court. The Dolphins’ offense stumbled in the third set as they were unable to get things going and were only able to secure 14 points.
The fourth set would go in favor of the Dolphins as they would rebound in a strong way. After falling in two straight sets, the Dolphins pummeled the Bears 25-9 in the fourth set to force a set five to determine a winner. It was the Bears that jumped out to a 5-0 lead before the Dolphins came right back with three of their own to bring the score within two. The Bears would claw out another 5-0 run to take a 10-3 lead over the Dolphins as the match began to draw to a close. The Dolphins, however, would make it interesting and bring it within one point, 13-14. The Bears were able to seal the match by a score of 15-13.
The Dolphins return to action on Thursday, October 5 for a non-conference bout against Saint Elizabeth in Morristown, NJ.
