The College of Staten Island women’s volleyball team picked up their second home win of the season tonight with a 3-0 (25-7, 25-11, 25-19) sweep over the Cardinals of York College. The Dolphins improved to 3-8 overall and 2-3 in the CUNYAC with the win while knocking the Cardinals down to 0-11 overall and 0-4 in the CUNYAC.
Staten Island 3, York College 0 (25-7, 25-11, 25-19)
The Dolphins came out strong to start the match with a 25-7 throttling of the Cardinals. CSI opened the set with a 10-1 run led by Jessica Cafiero’s four service aces. Cafiero continued to pummel the back line of the Cardinals which let to poor sets and attacking errors. The Dolphins managed the lopsided win due in part to the Cardinals committing six errors. Teresa Maresca was able to match Cafiero’s four aces with four of her own late in the set to take a 21-5 lead.
Despite having their largest margin of victory in the opening stanza, Staten Island had their best hitting performance of the night in the second set. The Dolphins hit a game-high .188 with 13 kills on 32 total attacks. The Cardinals took an early 3-1 lead over the Dolphins after a pair of attacking errors put York in front. The women would bounce back when Vanessa Reyes was able to serve. Reyes’ serves put the Cardinals on their heels which forced them to send over uncontested balls which allowed Caitlin Esposito to tee off on a pair to put the Dolphins ahead. CUNYAC Rookie of the Week Margaret O’Malley-Rebovich took the Dolphins from a 15-11 all the way to the win. On that 10-0 run, O’Malley-Rebovich tallied five aces while Ashley Notaro aided with a kill of her own.
The final set of the night was one of the most competitive and had the CSI Sports & Recreation Center on their feet. With a substantial 14-7 lead the Dolphins looked to be in good shape, York, on the other hand, was not ready to leave without a fight. The Cardinals were able to make it a 23-19 game but the Dolphins proved to be too strong as they were able to quell the comeback attempt and pick up a crucial win to end their losing skid.
The Dolphins return to action on Saturday, September 30 where they will travel to St. Joseph’s College – Brooklyn for a non-conference tri-match starting at 1:00 pm.
