Farmingdale, NY | For the first time in program history the College of Staten Island women’s volleyball team was able to take a set against non-conference rivals Farmingdale State College, but in the end it was the home Rams scoring a 3-1 win over CSI in play this evening.  Individual scores were 25-18, 17-25, 25-9, and 25-17.  The Dolphins fell to 4-3 overall, while the win lifted FSC to 2-8.

The meeting was the 10th all-time in the series, with Farmingdale having taken straight-set wins in each of the last nine meetings.  The Dolphins put a scare into the Rams tonight by taking the second set, but a huge third-set win set the tone for FSC holding on.

Early in the first set, there were three lead changes before a kill by Kelsey Voiklis started a 7-2 run for Farmingdale that opened a 16-10 lead for the home side.  Kills by CSI’s Jacqueline Roloph, Alexandria Boachie-Ansah, and Francesca Castellano clawed CSI back to within four, but then a 4-1 FSC spurt, highlighted by a Sam Malatos spike, seemingly put things out of reach and gave FSC a 25-18 win.

CSI fell behind early in the second set, but would ultimately take a 7-6 lead on a service error, and it started a 7-0 run that gave the Dolphins a sizable lead, helped along by two Castellano kills and a service ace from Margaret O’Malley-Rebovich.  CSI kept the pressure on and a kill by Caitlin Esposito made it 16-9, and from there CSI coasted, leading by as many as nine before settling for a 25-17 win.

In an important swing game, it was then all FSC in set number three.  The Rams raced out to a 5-0 lead, spearheaded by two Kate Flamio kills.  From there, CSI tried in vain come back, but after closing to 8-5, Farmingdale went on a numbing 15-3 run to score a lopsided 25-9 win.  Annie Cosgrave scored two kills for FSC in the run.

Riding great momentum, the Rams were able to successfully close out the Dolphins in the fourth set.  After being down early, CSI came roaring back to take a 13-7 lead thanks to a 9-1 run, helped along by three Jay-La Guy kills and two more from Castellano.  FSC would not go quietly, and responded with a 7-1 run later in the set to take an 18-15 lead, finalized by a Flamio ace.  CSI scored back, but then back-to-back kills from Malatos and Cosgrave stalled the Dolphins and the Rams hung on for the 25-17 win, finishing on a 13-2 run to end the match.

Farmingdale was led by Voiklis’ 13 kills, and was followed by Flamio’s 11 kills and four service aces.  Malatos earned 10 kills with a team-best 17 digs while Angie Yarrow scored 36 assists.  For CSI, they were paced by Castellano’s eight kills and 16 digs, bot team highs.  Arianna Spears was the leader in the assists column with 20.

After spending the last four matches on the road, CSI will finalize their five-game road swing with a date against CUNYAC-rivals John Jay College on Thursday evening at 7pm as part of conference play.