RIVERDALE, N.Y. — After dropping the opening two sets, the St. Joseph's College (Brooklyn) won the third and threatened to force a fifth set, but dropped a 3-1 decision (26-24, 25-14, 15-25, 25-19) to the College of Mount Saint Vincent in Skyline Conference play on Wednesday evening.

Senior Christina Morales (Brooklyn, N.Y./St. Edmund Prep) slammed a match-high 14 kills and sophomore Grace Kane (Breezy Point, N.Y./Fontbonne Hall Academy) finished with 10 kills to lead the attack.

How it Happened

The Bears (4-8, 2-6) opened the match with a 3-1 lead but the Dolphins (12-10, 5-4) used a 10-2 run to build a 13-6 lead that later ballooned to as many as nine, 18-9. But SJC got back into the set with a 12-2 spurt to take a 21-20 lead. The opening set remained up for grabs with four more ties at 21-, 22-, 23-, and 24-all before the hosts used a kill and a block to hold on for a 26-24 win.

Despite four kills from Kane in the second stanza, the Dolphins carried the momentum from the first and never trailed in the second.

After a close opening half of the third set with neither team leading by more than three, the Bears broke away at 12-all with a 9-1 run powered by a pair of kills from Ayomide Adeoye (Brooklyn, N.Y./Edward R. Murrow) and pair from Martina Urgo (Astoria, N.Y./St. John's Prep) and finished with a convincing 25-15 set victory.

CMSV won the first three points of the fourth set, but couldn't pull away as a battle ensued and the frame featured nine ties and four lead changes. The set remained tied at 17-all after a Morales kill before the Dolphins ran off three-in-a-row and the Bears couldn't reel them back in.

For the Bears

• Morales paired her 14 kills with 16 digs for a double-double.
• Kane hit a season-high .265 and recorded her third double-double of the season (10 kills, 20 digs).
• Urgo chipped in five kills and lifted a match-high 23 digs.
• Kaitlyn Intindola (Brooklyn, N.Y./Bishop Kearney) dished out 33 assists, her fourth match with 30+ dimes.
• Carol Melo (Brooklyn, N.Y./St. Edmund Prep) rounded out three Bears with 20+ digs, bringing up 22.
• Adeoye finished with four kills and Teuta Hoxha (Kew Gardens, N.Y./Queens Metropolitan) had three solo blocks with two kills.

Next Up

The Bears have a quick turnaround returning to the court tomorrow night, October 21, hosting Hunter College in a non-conference match starting at 6:30 p.m. Live stats and video will be available at SJCBears.com/live.