BROOKLYN, N.Y. — The St. Joseph's University, New York (Brooklyn) women's volleyball team won both of its matches in a Saturday tri-match at Brooklyn College's West Quad Gym, rallying from 1-0 down to knock off the host Bulldogs in four sets (21-25, 25-18, 25-23, 25-22) before defeating McDaniel College in five (25-19, 16-25, 23-25, 25-23, 15-4).
Brooklyn College
Despite rookies Carissa Zwiefelhofer (North Bend, Wash.) and Abigail Encinia (Sunnyvale, Texas) leading the Bears' attack, the Bulldogs took the opening set 25-21. St. Joseph's answered in the second with its most efficient hitting of the day, posting 15 kills on a .226 percentage. The Bulldogs held a 13-8 lead before using a 12-2 run to lead 20-15 before winning 25-18. Taylor Knight (San Ramon, Calif.) led the side with four kills in the stretch.
The third set was played within a two-point margin for much of the set, with the Bears holding the largest lead of the frame at 21-12. Brooklyn College responded with eight unanswered points to come within one, 21-20. Tied at 23, the Bears secured the 25–23 win, with a Knight kill at set point, to move ahead two sets to one.
In the fourth, St. Joseph's had an early lead but the Bulldogs came within three points of forcing a decisive fifth set, 22-17. The Bears used an 8-0 stretch, capped off by kills from Encinia and Zwiefelhofer, to win the set 25–22; resulting in the program's first win over the Bulldogs in nine years.
Libero Mariana Medrano (El Paso, Texas) brought up a match-high 29 digs, a program single-match record for a four-set contest. She also led the side with four service aces. Zwiefelhofer had 16 assists to go with 11 kills and eight digs. Knight had a match-high 14 kills while Encinia had 12. The duo also finished with nine and eight digs, respectively. Defensive specialist Juliette DiVittorio (Astoria, N.Y.) had 14 digs.
McDaniel
St. Joseph's took control early in the opening set with efficient attacking, committing just two errors on 31 swings to hit .290. Taylor Knight connected for four kills in the frame as the Bears held a 20–14 cushion before closing out the set 25–19.
The Green Terror responded in the second, turning a 5-5 tie into a decisive run, forcing eight SJBK errors while hitting .294 themselves to take the set 25-18. Despite St. Joseph's never holding the lead in the third, they weathered a nine-point deficit at 13-4 to come within a point of elongating the set, 24-23. A McDaniel kill gave the Maryland-based squad the 2-1 match lead.
Encinia opened the set with three consecutive aces to establish a cushion and, despite falling behind 20–18, St. Joseph's rallied with a late push fueled by kills from Keren Crespo (Meriden, Conn.) and capped by a DiVittorio ace for a 25–23 win to force a winner-take-all frame.
The decisive set was all St. Joseph's. Behind kills from Zwiefelhofer and Knight and steady passing from Medrano, the Bears raced out to an 11–1 advantage. Crespo also notched a pair of kills late in the set as McDaniel was held without a kill in the set. St. Joseph's overwhelmed the Green Terror, 15-4, winning the match 3-2.
Behind a 13-kill, 10-assist, 10-dig effort, Zwiefelhofer's triple-double highlighted the afternoon; the program's third on record and the first since Kaitlyn Intindola '23 had two in the 2022 season. Knight added 11 kills, 11 digs, and three aces. Medrano followed her record-breaking first match by nearly replicating the feat courtesy of a match-high 28 digs. Encinia chipped in eight kills, 18 assists, and three aces and DiVittorio contributed 10 digs with a pair of aces.
Up Next
The Bears will have the entirety of the week off as they return to The Hill Center on Monday, September 29 to face the City College of New York at 7 pm.
