Women's Volleyball Unable to Take out Brooklyn College

The Maritime College women's volleyball was unable to get back in the win column Monday night against Brooklyn College as they fell in straight sets 25-14, 25-15, and 25-19. The Privateers were coming off a tough weekend tri-match at the College of Staten Island, where they lost to both the Dolphins and NJCU. Maritime was looking to get back on track against the Bulldogs, but just couldn't string together the run they needed. The Privateers got off to a slow start in the first set, but started to get some momentum together behind back-to-back aces from Abby Steele (Crossville, Tenn./Stone Memorial) as they brought the score with five points at 15-10. However, the Bulldogs responded with a big run of their own and were able to run away with the first set, 25-14. Trailing 14-7 in the second set, Maritime put together another run to bring the score closer. This time, two powerful kills from Celyna Custodio (Danbury, Conn./Danbury) and Meghan Eagleton (Poughkeepsie, N.Y./Roy C. Ketcham) kept the run going as they cut the lead to 14-11. The Privateers continued to hang in the set behind more solid offense run through the hands of sophomore setter Erika Kirchner (Meadowmere Park, N.Y./Lawrence). Unfortunately, Brooklyn found its rhythm yet again late in the set and won eight of the last nine points to take the third set 25-15. The third set started out much stronger for Maritime, and backed by some energy from the crowd, the Privateers forced an early Bulldog timeout as they jumped out to a 6-4 lead. Maritime continued to hold the lead through 11-10 behind strong offensive play, but Brooklyn won multiple long rallies to steal the momentum and take a 20-14 advantage. The Privateers continued to battle and cut the lead to 17-20 behind an ace from Rylee Malone (Southington, Conn./University High School of Science & Engineering) and a kill from Steele, however, Brooklyn continued to dominate late in the set and came out with a 25-19 win. Custodio continued her solid freshman campaign as she picked up a team-high eight kills, while Eagleton chipped in six of her own on the outside. Kayla Steele (Howard Beach, N.Y./Construction) had a solid performance out of the middle as she filled in for senior Meredith Hayes (Houston, Texas/St. Agnes Academy), tallying four kills. Kirchner dished out a match-high 22 assists, while Eagleton, Abby Steele (Crossville, Tenn./Stone Memorial), and Abby Solomos (Mt. Sinai, N.Y./Mt. Sinai) reached double-digit digs with 16, 12, and 10, respectively. The Privateers resume conference play on Wednesday as they travel to Purchase College with play beginning at 7:00 p.m. The team will return home on Oct. 11 when they will take on St. Joseph's Brooklyn.