OLD WESTBURY, N.Y. — The St. Joseph's University, New York (Brooklyn) women's volleyball team earned its third Skyline Conference victory of the season with a straight-set win over Old Westbury (25-11, 25-15, 25-17) on Saturday afternoon at the Clark Athletic Center.

The Bears opened the first set with a commanding start, racing ahead 4-0 behind a pair of aces from Abigail Encinia (Sunnyvale, Texas) and early kills from Carissa Zwiefelhofer (North Bend, Wash.). St. Joseph's raced out to a 20-9 advantage with further contributions from the rookie duo, along with Keren Crespo (Meriden, Conn.) and service aces from Mariana Medrano (El Paso, Texas) before taking the set 25-11.

Old Westbury stayed closer early in the second, tying the score six times through 9-9. St. Joseph's broke the set open with an 11-3 stretch that featured back-to-back aces from Taylor Knight (San Ramon, Calif.), a kill from Encinia, and a service run by Medrano that helped cap a 25-15 win.

The third set saw St. Joseph's seize early momentum again, building a 4-0 lead on kills from Zwiefelhofer and Encinia. The Panthers closed within 5-5 on a brief serving run, but the Bears quickly regained separation on a pair of Crespo kills and a Juliette DiVittorio (Astoria, N.Y.) ace. An ace from Abby Cox (Oceanside, N.Y.) and consecutive points from Encinia and Jillian McGinty (Glendale, N.Y.) put the match out of reach, as St. Joseph's sealed the sweep 25-17.

Encinia led the way with nine kills, 13 assists, and three aces, while Crespo added eight kills and seven digs, hitting .389 on the day. Zwiefelhofer contributed eight kills and seven assists, and Knight collected 14 digs and two aces. Medrano totaled four aces and nine digs to anchor the back line.

The Bears travel to Throggs Neck on Thursday, October 23, as they take on SUNY Maritime College. First serve is slated for 7 pm.