The College of Staten Island women’s volleyball team saw its 2017 season come to an end tonight, falling on the road to Baruch College in the CUNYAC Postseason Tournament’s Quarterfinal round by a 3-0 count.  Individual scores were 25-12, 25-17, and 25-17.  The loss finalizes the Dolphins’ season at 7-18 under first year Head Coach Lak Wai (Larry) Ng, while the Bearcats improved to 11-20, and will play top-seeded Hunter College in Semifinal play on Friday evening at Hunter.

It was tough treading from the start in this one as Baruch got hot early and never looked back.  In the opening set, the Bearcats ripped off a quick, 4-0, edge, started by a quick kill from Katherine Chen followed by three CSI errors.  After CSi stopped the bleeding Baruch extended to 8-1, helped along by a Stella Chung kill and a Wai Chang ace.

A 6-0 run by Baruch extended the home team’s lead to 16-4 later, catapulted by three Chen aces.  Baruch led by as many as 13, and won the first set by that same count, 25-12.

Things got closer in the second set, and a kill by Teresa Maresca for CSI knotted the score early at 3-3.  A 5-0 run, however, pulled Baruch up, 9-4, in the second set with four of the five points coming on Chen aces.  The Dolphins responded with three straight points thanks to Baruch errors, but later with the score at 11-8, Baruch uncorked an 8-1 run powered by Yijia Cai who poured in a couple of kills as well.

Another kill by Maresca cut the lead to 19-13, but the Bearcats proved too powerful, ultimately taking the set, 25-17.

Again, early trouble proved costly for the Dolphins in the final set, as the Bearcats assumed an early, 6-1, edge.  CSI again cut the lead thanks to a 3-0 spurt that featured an ace from senior Vanessa Reyes, but again Baruch countered, this time with a 7-0 run to take a commanding 13-4 lead.  From there, Baruch was seemingly on cruise control.  The Dolphins cut the lead to five on two occasions, but the Bearcats finished on a 5-2 run to ice the game, 25-17.

Chen led the way for Baruch with 11 kills next to just three errors, adding a game-high eight aces as well.  Chung added 10 kills while Danielle Naggar finished with 15 digs for the victors.  Maresca easily led the Dolphins with seven kills with Reyes adding two aces.  Esposito topped out with 13 digs while Cassidy Iannariello finished just behind with 12.