NEW ROCHELLE, NY — The College of New Rochelle volleyball team broke the program record for wins in a season, earning its 23rd win of the season with a straight set victory in a non-conference road win over the College of Staten Island tonight.
Melanie Lopez Soto (Gurabo, PR/Notre Dame) had a dominant all-around effort to lead the Blue Angels, recording match-highs with18 assists and 10 service aces, adding eight kills to narrowly miss a triple-double. Meghan King (New City, NY/Clarkstown North) and Marissa Armstrong (Scottsdale, AZ/Paradise Valley) each tallied a match-high nine kills.
For the fourth straight match, CNR held its opponent to a negative hitting percentage, as the Dolphins hit -.043 compared to the Blue Angels’ .247 hitting percentage.
CNR (23-7) scored eight of the first nine points of the match before CSI (8-11) answered with a run of its own to pull within one, 8-7. With the Blue Angels leading, 11-10, CNR used a 9-3 run to open up a 20-13 lead and held off a late Dolphin rally, scoring the final five points of the set to earn a 25-17 win.
CSI turned the tables in the second set, scoring the first six points, and leading, 10-3, fell victim to a 14-1 Blue Angel run, making the score 17-11. After a brief, 4-2, Dolphins run, CNR closed out the set with six straight points to take a 25-15 win and a 3-0 set lead.
In the third set, the Blue Angels left no doubt, scoring the first eight points and 11 of the first 12 to open up a comfortable lead en route to a 25-10 win.
The win eclipsed the then-record 22 wins the team captured last season and establishes a new program best. The Blue Angels return to action on Sunday as the team looks to repeat as HVIAC Tournament Champions. Top-seeded CNR will battle #4 St. Joseph’s College-Brooklyn in one semifinal match slated to begin at 2:00 PM.
