Women's Volleyball 'Baptized' in Five by Summit University
By Fran Kilinski Sports writer
The CCNY Women’s Volleyball team came close to their first victory of the season before losing the last three of a long, five-set match against Summit University Tuesday Night in Harlem.CCNY started off hot as junior Brigitte Bozer (9 kills, 2 assists) helped spark an 11-1 run. The Beavers had all the momentum they needed, closing out the defenders in the first set 25-17.Despite a slow start to the second set, the Lady Beavers were able to find the groove again and rally back from a seven-point deficit. Sophomore outside hitter Angela Ubanwa got her first double-double of the season (16 kills, 14 digs) as the Lady Beavers looked overpowering late in the second set, coming back from an early hole to win, 25-23.The third and almost-final set of the game was a seesaw of scoring from each team.CCNY jumped out to a 6-2 lead and, feeling a bit too comfortable, fell into a 15-11 hole after a rally from the Defenders. Immediately after, however, CCNY’s Irishvarsh Iyyadurai served up four straight service aces on a silver platter to tie it up at 15 apiece.The last few minutes of the set were nerve-wracking enough to make any CCNY fan in the stands chew off every fingernail, flirting with possibly their first victory of the season. The back-and-forth effort from both teams was entertaining, but Summit stayed alive and overpowered CCNY with an array of blocks to finish the set, 25-21.After that discouraging third set loss, City looked like they lost their hearts with the previous set.The Defenders took a commanding 6-0 lead before even allowing any points, and even then, their defense proved to be too much for CCNY. A few blocked kills and miscommunications later, CCNY had found themselves down 18-8 and in real danger of letting one slip away.Summit never let City score more than two points in a row in the fourth set and closed them out, 25-17. Summit’s Callie Kitowski had a double-double of her own with 13 kills and 13 digs, and was a large reason the Defenders’ dominated the fourth frame.The comeback was completed in a most heartbreaking fashion, when after only being up 4-3 in the fifth set, Summit stepped on the gas pedal even harder and ended any hope for a Beavers victory finishing the game-clinching set 15-8.When asked what had gone wrong, CCNY head coach Dalliana Toussaint responded, “To be honest, I’m still trying to figure that out. It was very frustrating because I actually felt very confident about this game. Especially after the competition we had this past weekend.”“Just knowing that the other team is fighting just as hard as you are, that’s where your heart has to come in,” she added, commenting on the Beavers’ lack of energy from midway through the third set until the end of the game.The Beavers fall to 0-6 on the season, winning just three total sets in the six matches played.They have a big multi-match at Nat Holman Gymnasium on Saturday where they can redeem themselves after this tough, heartbreaking loss to another team that was aching for a win.
