The College of Staten Island women’s volleyball team was right in the thick of it tonight, but in the end fell narrowly on the road at New Jersey City University by a 3-0 count. NJCU won by individual scores of 25-21, 25-17, and 25-22. The Dolphins fell to 0-2, while NJCU evened at 2-2.
The Dolphins were tied in the early stages of the first set before a short NJCU run got the home side out to a four-point lead in the middle stages. On the service of Margaret O’Malley-Rebovich, CSI then went on a 4-0 run to get the score to 22-21, fueled by a Caitlin Esposito kill. However, three-straight points in response but CSI away, finished on a kill be Georgina Rayo.
A kill by Teresa Maresca and an Esposito ace gave CSI a 5-1 advantage early in the second set, but again NJCU made a run. A 7-1 spurt, fueled by back-to-back kills would give NJCU a 13-10 edge, and then later they extended to 20-11 after two CSI attack errors, en route to the 25-17 win.
The Knights got off to a 5-1 lead in the third and would never relinquish the lead. CSI made it interesting when they cut the lead to just one, 19-18 thanks to three aces, two by Maresca. Again though, NJCU made a good final push and kills by Amber O’Donnell and Pamela Florimon got the Knights the 25-22 edge.
Stephanie Duque led NJCU with 11 kills, while Rachel McIntyre collected 26 assists. Duque also led the way in digs with eight. CSI was paced by Esposito and Maresca’s five kills. Jessica Cafiero registered eight assists while Esposito led with seven digs.
CSI is now idle until Saturday, when they usher in CUNYAC play with two matches, playing both Brooklyn College and Medgar Evers College at Brooklyn beginning at 12 Noon.
