The College of Staten Island women’s volleyball team hosted a non-conference tri-match this afternoon against Sarah Lawrence College and William Paterson University at the CSI Sports & Recreation Center.  The Dolphins would split the day with a dramatic five set win over Sarah Lawrence followed by a 3-0 loss to William Paterson.  With the split the Dolphins move to 6-11 on the year.

Match 1: Staten Island 3, Sarah Lawrence 2 (15-25, 25-20, 21-25, 25-21, 15-10)

The Dolphins, for the first time this season, put together back-to-back wins this afternoon after they opened the tri-match in spectacular fashion.  CSI came into today with a 0-1 record when a match went the distance but evened that record out a 1-1 with a big five set win over the Gryphons. Siobhan Granich was a big part of today’s win as she had a career day with 22 kills in a single match.
 
In the first set, the Dolphins and Gryphons would open up with a 6-6 tie led by a pair of kills by Siobhan Granich. Sarah Lawrence would find their groove and go on a 6-3 run to take a 12-9 lead over the Dolphins and never look back.  CSI would be plagued by errors in the opening stanza which led to their 25-15 defeat.
 
A 10-3 run in the second all but locked up the second game for CSI as Granich would once again lead the charge with three kills over that span.  Down 20-10 the Gryphons would claw away at the Dolphins’ lead and nearly make a comeback with a pair of late aces to shrink CSI’s lead to 22-18.  CSI would get two of their last three points via errors by the Gryphons to tie the match up at 1-1.
 
Cassisdy Iannariello would give the Dolphins a 14-8 lead by collecting four straight aces.  However, that lead would not last long as a trio of attacking errors along with a receiving error would tie the game up.  The Dolphins and Gryphons would go back-and-forth and would eventually be tied up at 17 after a Vanessa Reyes kill.  Sarah Lawrence would be able to squeeze out a win in the end to take a 2-1 lead in the match.
 
CSI would not go quietly on their home court, especially after they were swept earlier in the season by the Gryphons.  The Dolphins were looking for revenge and left it all out on the court. After a battle early only the Dolphins would take a 10-9 lead and never look back.  Skenderjie Mila was able to give the Dolphins that lead with consecutive kills.  The Gryphons would start to gain momentum towards the end of the set, however that was cooled off by an attacking error by CJ Kelley.
 
The Dolphins had only been in one fifth set this season and it did not go in their favor.  Today was different, you could see their determination and it showed up on the court.  The women would dominate in the final set and jump out to a 10-4 lead.  Errors would once again show up for the Dolphins and allow a big lead to shrink to just 11-9.  Iannariello would serve her way to a victory as her tricky serves gave the Dolphins free balls back over the net and allowed Jessica Cafiero to set up Granich for the win.
 
Granich (.200) and Mila (.184) led the offense with 22 and 14 kills, respectively. Senior libero, Victoria Wong had a 29 dig day, coming up with one big defensive play after another.  Cafiero would tally 43 assists in the match to go along with her 15 digs.
 
Match 2: William Paterson 3, Staten Island 0 (9-25, 10-25, 11-25)
 
The Dolphins played well against the Pioneers but their lack of height showed up in this match as the Pioneers were able to take free shots at the Dolphins’ defense.
 
CSI was never able to get a foothold in the first set as they would fall behind 10-3 early on. It wasn’t for a lack of trying as CSI played some of their best defense early in the first set, causing long rallies. An 11-0 run by the Pioneers would seal the first set up for them to take a 1-0 lead in the match.
 
Alyson Toman, leads the Pioneers in kills, was able to secure three straight kills early in the second set followed by a Christine Griffith kill to give the Pioneers a 6-0 lead over the Dolphins.  Once again it was a mid-set run by the Pioneers that wrapped up the game.  William Paterson would go on a 9-0 to take a 20-6 lead over CSI. The Pioneers would finish out the set to claim a 2-0 lead over the Dolphins.
 
The Dolphins were able to prevent a long run by the Pioneers in the third and final set and would commit their least amount of errors against the Pioneers in this set.  CSI was able to keep it close in the beginning, only trailing 7-10.  William Paterson would show their experience despite committing the most errors in the match against the Dolphins and finish out the game with a 25-11 win. 
 
William Paterson would finish the day 2-0 and improve to 14-9 on the year.
 
Wong once again led the Dolphins with 24 digs while Granich (-.167) led the way with five kills.
 
The Dolphins will return to action on Tuesday, October 18 where they will host U.S.M.M.A at 7:00 pm.