Brooklyn College Athletics

Brooklyn, NY----A week after defeating the defending conference champs, John Jay, the Brooklyn College women's volleyball team improved to 2-0 to start conference play as the Bulldogs beat Baruch College, 3-1 (25-21, 23-25, 25-22, 25-23), at the West Quad Center on Tuesday.  Brooklyn improves to 3-5 overall with the victory while the Bearcats drop to 6-6 (1-1 CUNYAC).  Next Up: The Bulldogs remain home for a non-conference tilt against Sarah Lawrence on Thursday at 7pm.  

Olive Carroll led the Bulldogs offensively, recording a match-high and career-high 19 kills to go along with three service aces and four digs. Saule Okeke-Ziburkus added seven kills and seven digs, while Rose Kory finished with a team-high 24 assists. Mila Servania anchored the back row with a team-best 15 digs.

For Baruch, Alicia Graves paced the Bearcats with 12 kills and 14.5 points, while Sarah Sellami added 11 kills and 12.5 points. Maria Zecchinel contributed eight kills, and Erica Peralta finished with seven kills. Setter Karen Pozo Castro recorded a match-high 32 assists, while libero Pei Qiong Ren posted a team-best 26 digs.

Brooklyn jumped out to an early lead in the opening set, using a pair of service aces from Carroll to help build a 12-8 advantage.

Baruch battled back to make it a one-point game at 15-14 before the Bulldogs responded. Brooklyn eventually pushed its lead to 22-18, but the Bearcats rallied to cut the deficit to 22-20.

Carroll then took over, recording kills for the final two Brooklyn points as the Bulldogs closed out the opening set. 

The second set featured 13 tie scores as neither team was able to establish a significant advantage. Brooklyn held a 19-18 lead late in the set following a Carroll kill, and Okeke-Ziburkus followed with another kill to put the Bulldogs ahead 20-19. Baruch answered with a late surge, scoring four of the final six points to take the set 25-23 and even the match at one set apiece.

Brooklyn regained control in the third set and held off Baruch to take a 25-22 victory and move back in front, 2-1.

The fourth set proved to be another tightly contested battle, but Brooklyn saved its best offensive performance for last. The Bulldogs recorded 17 kills on 46 attempts, hitting .217 in the set, jumping out to a comfortable early lead before the Bearcats made a late comeback. Brooklyn and Baruch remained within striking distance toward the end of the set before the Bulldogs closed out the match with a 25-23 victory.

Brooklyn finished the night with 38 kills, 30 assists, 14 service aces and 67 digs, while Baruch recorded 46 kills, 40 assists, nine service aces and 74 digs.