NEW ROCHELLE, NY — The Monroe College volleyball team hosted the Regional & District Tournaments in New Rochelle on Saturday, and the team came away with a 3-0 win over Harford to earn the Region 15 Championship, but they fell in District N final to Missouri State, West Plains, 3-1. The Grizzlies were the team that ousted the Mustangs from the post season in 2014-15.
The first match of the day saw Monroe defeat the Fighting Owls 25-17, 25-23 and 25-10. Barbara Maximiano and Cristen Coryatt each had 11 kills, while Indira Rojas had 28 assists and Neysha Gonzalez added 18 digs. Gabriella Nobrega also collected 12 assists.
Monroe jumped out to a 5-1 lead in set one as Taylor Robinson led the way with a pair of kills. The lead got up to 10-3 thanks to strong serving from Maximiano. Harford got as close as 18-15, but the Mustangs closed out the set with a 7-2 run. The final point came on an attack error from a Rojas serve.
The Mustangs went ahead, 5-2 in the second set on the heels of strong serves from Coryatt. The Fighting Owls eventually leveled the score at 8-8. Monroe countered with a 5-0 run to take a 13-8 lead. Karen Souza’s strong serves keyed the run. Harford tried and tried to even the score but they only got within one point several more times in the set. Up 24-23, the Mustangs took set two with a kill from Ashely Ramos.
Set three went to Monroe, 25-10. They led 15-4 to open the set. Eventually the advantage grew to 15 points. They took the final set, 25-10, on a kill from Alexis Booker.
DISTRICT CHAMPIONSHIP VERSUS MISSOURI WEST PLAINS
After defeating Harford, the Mustangs had the unenviable task of having to face Missouri State West Plains to win the District N title and move to nationals. It was these same Grizzlies whom eliminated Monroe last season, and it was deja vu as they took down the Mustangs in four sets by scores of 28-26, 25-27, 25-17 and 25-19.
Monroe fell behind in the first set, trailing 14-11. A 4-0 run put them ahead, 15-14. A couple of errors and a block and kill from Maximiano accounted for the points. Late in the set, a Coryatt kill tied the score at 26-all, but the Grizzlies scored the next two points and won, 28-26.
Set two was another close set, but Monroe came out ahead on this one, 27-25. The Mustangs came from behind again as they trailed by four points throughout the set. They eventually went on a 5-0 run and tied the score at 13-13 on a Coryatt ace. West Plains later gained the lead, 19-17, but Monroe used a 4-0 scoring outburst to lead 21-19. A Souza kill and three serves from Nautica Vega accoutned for the points. The Mustangs took the set behind strong serves from Gonzalez.
The Grizzlies took the nest two sets to win the match, 3-1. Ramos finished with a match-best 17 kills, while Rojas posted a double-double of 30 assists and ten digs. The team finished the season with a 38-3 overall mark and were receiving votes in the national poll.
