The College of Staten Island women’s volleyball squad went the distance tonight for the first time, winning in five sets over York College, 3-2, as part of conference play in Jamaica, NY. York won the opening set, 25-20, before CSI won sets two and three, 25-22 & 25-23. After York took the fourth set, 25-16, CSI rebounded to take the fifth and final set, 15-10. The Dolphins improved to 8-10 overall and 3-4 within the CUNYAC, while York dropped to 5-22, 1-6, respectively.
After an early CSI lead, York wrestled control midway through the first stanza on a kill by Naadira Patrick. The Dolphins pulled to within two, 14-12, but York went on a three point tear and their first game lead was never threatened from there in the 25-20 win.
CSI rallied back, however, in the middle sets. The Dolphins got off to 4-0 lead in the second frame, starting with a Victoria Wong ace. After having the lead cut to 14-13 later, the Dolphins then went on a 5-0 run, capped by a Selma Kolenovic kill that made it 19-13. York rallied to make it a 22-21 game, but three errors by York down the stretch gave CSI the win in the second.
CSI then scored an improbable win in the third set. After falling behind 6-0 to start and later trailing by as many as eight points, 15-7. CSI starting to string points together. Down 18-12, CSI then went on an 8-2 tear, guided by three Kolenovic kills to tie the score at 20-20. The score was tied at 22-22 when Siobhan Granich gave CSI its first lead via a kill, and another by Pola Poskrobko made it 24-22. After a York point, a Cardinals error gave CSI the win, 25-22.
York proceeded to get even with a convincing fourth set. This time the Cardinals raced to a 4-0 lead, only this time they never surrendered it, winning it 25-16.
In the final set, the teams exchanged the lead three times before the pivotal point came with the score at 8-8. Three straight York attack errors gave CSI a more comfortable 11-8 lead, and the Cardinals kept failing, committing three more errors to eventually make it 14-10 before junior Brittany Minondo connected on a kill to win it.
Both teams had their share of problems connecting on their attacks, as they combined for a heavy 69 attack errors. On top of their 38 attack errors, York also had 16 service errors making for a tough evening. Poskrobko led the way for CSI with 10 kills, followed by Kolenovic’s 9. Minondo posted 25 assists, three aces and 14 digs, all team highs. Leading the way for YC was Stacy Kay Muirhead, who amassed 19 kills.
CSI’s next match will be tomorrow evening against the College of New Rochelle. It will be senior night at CSI as the Dolphins will honor lone senior Poskrobko, beginning at 7pm.
