NCAA Regional Hoboken, NJ----The Brooklyn College women's volleyball team's historic run in the postseason came to end on Friday in the First Round of the NCAA Division III Women's Tournament as the Bulldogs fell to NYU (27-1), 3-0 (25-6, 25-5, 25-16). The 2021 CUNYAC Champions close out the regular season with a 16-13 while NYU moves on to the Second Round of the Regional on Saturday. 

"NYU is a very tough team and I wish them luck in the rest of the tournament," Brooklyn College Head Coach and CUNYAC Coach of the Year, Mateusz Gotowicki, would comment during the post-match press conference.  "Our team has fought all season and I couldn't have been prouder of them when they didn't give up in the third set."

NYU proved why they were ranked 10^th nationally in the most recent AVCA Coaches Poll, jumping out to a 10-0 lead to start the match. Brooklyn kept it close to start the second set, but NYU went on a 9-1 run to take an 11-3 lead. The Bulldogs showed plenty of heart in the final set, following an Aleah Rafat kill then an ace, the Bulldogs found themselves trailing 21-13. The Violets were able to close out the tournament match on a kill following a pair of errors in favor of the Bulldogs.

"I want to thank my teammates, the coaching staff, and Brooklyn College for their hard work and support," senior captain Ezri Shor would express following the match. "We weren't concerned about the score, especially in that third set--it was about having fun and playing hard."
 
Rafat, the 2021 CUNYAC Rookie of the Year, led the way offensively for Brooklyn with four kills on the afternoon. Shor would finish with seven assists and a pair of blocks. NYU was led by Olivia Lewandowski's match-high 12 kills.

"It's been a roller-coaster of a season and we were able to gain momentum late, which got us to this point," sophomore outside hitter and First Team CUNYAC All-Star Ashley Fung, would say. "We just kept on going and it's been fun!"