Kean Spoils Senior Night, Tops Women’s Volleyball 3-1

 Written by Andrew Capitelli (SJC-LI Sports Information)

Patchogue, NY| In front of friends and family, the St. Joseph's College (L.I.) women's volleyball team suffered a 3-1 Senior Night defeat at the hands of Kean University in a non-conference contest on Thursday evening inside the Danzi Center. With the loss, the Golden Eagles fall to 15-14 on the season, while the Cougars improve to 18-16.

Following a pregame ceremony that celebrated the careers of seniors Heather Ferchland and Tiffany Willms, the Golden Eagles jumped out to an early 4-1 lead in the first set. The Cougars responded by scoring the next six points to pull ahead 7-4 and eventually built a 24-17 lead. A Claire Urizzo kill fended off defeat, and a Kean error followed by a Courtney Wickline ace cut the Cougars' lead to just four (24-20), but the visitors would claim the set off a Wickline service error on the next serve.

Down 15-11 in the second set, a 7-0 run by St. Joseph's—which featured a couple of kills by Ferchland—inched the hosts in front by the score of 18-15. Kean grabbed three of the next four points, but St. Joseph's won the set with a 6-2 run and tied the match at one.

A reenergized St. Joseph's side jumped out to a 9-5 lead in the third, but it was matched by Kean's 5-0, which put the Cougars back in front. The Golden Eagles rallied to regain the lead at 23-21 and had the opportunity to put the Cougars away, but Kean held off defeat and compiled a 4-0 run to win the third and pull ahead 2-1 in the match.

A classic in its own right, the fourth set could have went either way. St. Joseph's built a 12-7 lead midway through the set, but Kean's 6-0 run put them back in front 13-12. After trading points for the remainder of the set, the two sides found themselves tied at 24. After literally going point-for-point, for another 10 minutes, it was a Nicollette Poveromo service ace that ended the set (31-29) and the match in Kean's favor.

As she has done for most of her career, Ferchland led the Golden Eagles in kills with 12. Junior AnneMarie Taggart established a career-high in kills with 11, while freshman Jenna Beekman recorded a game-best 15 digs. Willms contributed seven kills and seven digs.

The Golden Eagles return to action on Saturday, October 31 when they welcome Farmingdale State and Mt. St. Mary to the Danzi Center for a Skyline Conference tri-match. The matches—scheduled to be played at 12:00 PM and 4:00 PM—are the final two contests of the regular season for St. Joseph's. Live stats for the matches will be available here.