CAMDEN, N.J. — The St. Joseph's University, New York (Brooklyn) women's volleyball team earned a straight-set win over Medgar Evers College on Sunday afternoon (25-9, 25-3, 25-11), before dropping a five-setter to Rutgers University-Camden (25-15, 25-17, 25-27, 22-25, 8-15) in the Bears' final non-conference tri-match of the season.
Medgar Evers
The Bears opened the match with a commanding 15-2 lead. Rachel Meltsin (Brooklyn, N.Y.) and Abby Cox (Oceanside, N.Y.) combined for five service aces in the stretch. The Cougars reduced the deficit to nine but the Bears – behind kills from Cox and Carissa Zwiefelhofer (North Bend, Wash.) and miscues from Medgar Evers – won the set by 16, 25-9.
Abigail Encinia (Sunnyvale, Texas) served four aces to begin the second stanza as the Bears led 12-0. Cox added four more aces in the set as St. Joseph's blitzed past the Cougars to win the set 25-3.
In the third set, St. Joseph's used a 10-2 opening run and maintained a steady advantage behind Nikiya Philemon (Hamburg, N.J.), who put down two kills and added multiple service points. Cox closed the match with a kill from Meltsin to seal the 25–11 result and 3-0 match win.
Cox had a match-high 10 aces to go with four kills while Encinia had four aces of her own. Philemon led the attack with five kills and three aces. Three more Bears recorded multiple aces while Meltsin dished out 13 assists.
Rutgers-Camden
The Bears established early control in the opening set as kills from Zwiefelhofer and Taylor Knight (San Ramon, Calif.) built separation en route to a 25-15 set win. St. Joseph's carried their momentum into the second set with a 5-0 stretch to begin the frame. The Scarlet Raptors used a 9-1 run of their own to swing the advantage in their favor but at 8-10, the Bears picked up seven unanswered points to reclaim the lead, holding onto it for the 25-17 set win.
The third set was closely contested throughout, featuring multiple ties and extended rallies. St. Joseph's led 22–20 before Rutgers–Camden responded with a late run to force extra points, eventually taking the set 27–25. The fourth set followed a similar pattern, with neither side leading by more than four. The hosts pulled ahead late to earn a 25-22 win, sending the match to a decisive fifth set.
In the final stanza, the Scarlet Raptors opened with four unanswered points. Despite the Bears closing the gap to 8-7 thanks to kills from Zwiefelhofer and Keren Crespo (Meriden, Conn.), the hosts held on to win the third, 15-8.
Knight had a match-leading 18 kills to go with 15 digs while Encinia added 14 kills, 12 digs and 10 assists for her second triple-double. Zwiefelhofer also had a triple-double of 13 kills, 11 assists, and 10 digs. Meltsin had a team-high 13 assists with seven digs while Medrano logged a double-double of 34 digs and 12 assists.
The Bears end the regular season on Wednesday, November 5 at St. Joseph's (Long Island). First serve is slated for 7 pm.
