The College of Staten Island women's volleyball season came to a close tonight, as the No. 5 seeded Dolphins fell to No. 4 Elmira College, 3-0, in a first round game of the ECAC Metro/Upstate Postseason Tournament. Final scores of the game were 25-13, 25-8, and 25-13. With the win, Elmira will face top-seeded and tournament hosts New York University tomorrow morning at 11am. CSI ends their season with a 13-12 record, but more importantly, having taken away a piece of history, participating in the ECAC postseason for the first time in program history.
It didn’t take long for Elmira to impose its will on the game, as the Eagles scored the first eight points of the first set, forcing the reeling Dolphins to call timeout. Elmira's Janice Embury scattered six kills in the first set alone, en route to a game-high of 13. CSI tried to battle back, scoring four straight points later in the set, but the run came too late.
The Eagles continued their strong play into the second and third sets. The second set was the strongest for the Eagles, as they broke an early 3-3 tie to win 25-8. The team had 16 kills to the Dolphins' five. CSI registered seven kills in the third set, but unfortunately Elmira kept up their fantastic hitting percentage, touching down with a .344 attack percentage in the third frame, to win 25-13.
Elmira's Embury added a blocked shot and block assist to her 13 kills, while teammate Brit Raykoskie-Raspe tallied 10 kills and two digs. Tesia Kaczynski garnered four service aces and a game-high 27 assists, while Susan Clark led the way with 9 digs. For CSI, Joanna Tepedino led the way with six kills adding 9 digs. Vanessa Perez also tallied 9 digs while posting five kills. Alba Basha netted 13 assists, and had one of CSI's two serve aces.
The Dolphins' entry to the ECAC's capped a solid season for the squad, one that saw the Dolphins play nearly it's entire 2008 schedule away from the Sports & Recreation Center, as reconstruction to its home gymnasium went into its second year.
"The commitment of this team in the face of adversity has been remarkable," said CSI head coach Rose DeInnocentiis. "There is no question that we deserved to be here and playing in this tournament will serve us well for the future."
The Dolphins' squad boasts just two seniors, meaning a strong crux of the 2008 installment will be back in '09.
"We are excited at what the future holds for CSI Volleyball," said DeInnocentiis. "We can certainly look forward to seeing more development and a commitment to improve on what we've built this season."