Women's Volleyball Earns First CUNYAC Win

 Sloppy or perfectly played, a win is a win. And when it's your first conference win of the season, you'll take it.For the third straight year, the CCNY Women's Volleyball team is off to a 2-3 overall (1-0 CUNYAC) start to the season after the Beavers swept Medgar Evers 3-0 (25-18, 25-23, 25-18) a Nat Holman Gymnasium Thursday night."I'm glad that we won," Beavers head coach Dalliana Toussaint said after the game. "I'm a little disappointed as how they were playing because it looked a little sloppy and I know they're better than this.""It's a win but I know they can do much better than they were doing today."Thursday night's win marks the second time in the last three years that CCNY started 1-0 in conference play."It feels great. I'm looking forward to playing other CUNY schools and also winning because I definitely want to win a championship in my first year."The Beavers opened the game sloppy, allowing the Cougars to start the game on a 4-1 run, leading to an early City timeout."When they're playing a team that is below their level, they end up playing at their level," Toussaint mentioned.CCNY rallied back to take a 7-6 lead following a service ace by Magd Zamzam.Both teams traded the lead back and forth until CCNY went on a 3-0 run after the game was tied at 11 to go up 14-11 midway through the first set. The Beavers would hold onto the lead, ending the first set on a 5-1 run as they won 25-18."It was intense, but we need better communication and we all have to give it our all," sophomore Katherine Fana said."Next time we got to bring it."CCNY started the second set as strong as they finished the first, taking an early 4-1 lead over MEC. However three errors by the Beavers led to a 4-0 run by the Cougars to give MEC the 5-4 lead. CCNY's errors midway through the second set allowed the Cougars to go on an 8-3 run to take a commanding 13-7 lead.CCNY would rally back once again, led by senior Leticia Marotti, who recorded two of her nine kills on the night during the Beavers scrappy 9-3 run to tie the set at 16.   The Beavers rode the momentum of the run to win the second set 25-23, holding off a rally by MEC that saw them outscore the Beavers 4-1 with CCNY at set-point, up 24-19."We all have great capabilities," Marotti said.The Beavers held off one last rally by the Cougars in the third and final set, winning 25-18 to complete the sweep."It was a good win," sophomore Vera Quispe added. "It was a sloppy win, but it was a good win."The Beavers will take their 2-3 record on the road at the Morrisville State Tournament this weekend for three non-conference matches, starting with D'Youville College on Saturday. They return home to Harlem on Tuesday at 7 p.m. for another non-conference match against The College at Old Westbury.