New York, NY | The College of Staten Island women’s volleyball team was unable to snap their 20-match losing skid against Baruch College tonight after falling in straight sets to the No.4 Bearcats in the CUNYAC Quarterfinal round. The No. 5 seeded Dolphins finish their season 10-15 while Baruch advances to the CUNYAC Semifinal round.
The Dolphins got off to a strong start against the Bearcats, taking the first four points before the Bearcats called a timeout to put an early end to CSI’s hot streak. The well-timed stoppage worked in favor of Baruch as they were able to rally back to take an 8-7 lead. Once they earned the lead, Baruch did not relinquish that lead for the rest of the set. A 7-3 run stretched Baruch’s lead out to 18-11, putting the Dolphins in a hole they were unable to get out of.
Set two was in favor of the Bearcats from the first serve. Baruch jumped out to a 9-1 lead before Margaret O’Malley-Rebovich was able to add another point to CSI’s total. The Dolphins were unable to build off of that as the Bearcats continued to stretch their lead. As the set grew longer the Dolphins found themselves back in the set. Down 24-14 the Dolphins were one point from falling behind 2-0 in the match but a 7-0 run led by Francesca Castellano and O’Malley-Rebovich brought them within two. Just when it looked as if the Dolphins were going to knot the match up at one apiece, Anita Sengara closed the set out to put her team up 2-0.
With the sting of defeat still fresh in their minds, the Dolphins came out looking to gain a footing in the match. Staten Island was able to secure a lead thanks to kills by Castellano and Jay-La Guy paired up with a pair of attacking errors by Baruch. The Bearcats settled in, however, and took a 14-13 lead and remained in charge for the rest of the set. Once again, the Dolphins made a late push but were unable to climb the mountain in front of them.
The Dolphins finished with their best CUNYAC record since 2009, 5-3, and look forward to a promising season next year.
