NEW ROCHELLE, NY — It was the Welsh-born poet, Dylan Thomas, who famously penned, “Do no go gentle into that good night,” and for the eight sophomores on the Monroe College volleyball team, that seemed to echo in their minds as they played their final home match on Sunday at the MAC in New Rochelle, New York. The eight Mustangs, Chlore Aloizis, Selena Drinks, Jourdan Hodge, Barbara Meximiano, Ashley Ramos, Taylor Robinson, Indira Rojas and Nautica Vega, which composed half the team, led the way for a dominating, 3-0 victory over the Borough of Manhattan Community College. The scores of the sets were 25-10, 25-20 and 25-8.
Monroe jumped out to a 15-5 lead in the first set before the Panthers called timeout. Ramos scored three of the first four points for the Mustangs with a kill and two aces. Hodge offered another kill for the fourth point. Up 11-5 later in the set, the Mustangs used the strong serve of Neysha Gonzalez to go up 15-5. Ramos had another kill. At the end of the set, Monroe led 20-9 and closed it out with a 5-1 run. A pair of kills from Maximiano and strong serves from Drinnks gave the set to the Mustangs.
Set two was more competitive and went to Monroe, 25-20. The Mustangs started at a torrid pace once again, jumping out to a 13-4 lead. They later led 22-13. From there, the Panthers rattled off seven straight point to pull within 22-20. Monroe closed out the set with three straight points, all from sophomores. Hodge and Maximiano had kills, while Vega scored the final point on a service ace.
The Mustangs took the third set, 25-8. They led 9-3 and then 13-4. Ahead, 19-8, they closed out the match scoring six-straight points. The final point came from a Cristen Coryatt service ace.
The team is now 37-2 on the season. They advanced to the District Tournament, which is slated for Saturday, November 7, in New Rochelle.
