JAMAICA, NY --- (www.YORKATHLETICS.com) York College women's volleyball began their 2024 campaign Thursday evening against the St. Joseph's University Brooklyn Bears (2-1). After a back-and-forth start, the visitors pulled away in straight sets, winning (25-14, 25-8, 25-6) inside York College Gymnasium. 
 
First Set Breakdown

• St. Joseph's Brooklyn started the contest off with an 8-1 lead on the strength of three kills and three aces. 
• The Cardinals responded with a 4-0 burst to make it 8-5, capped off with a kill by Jeana Clemons.
• Kills from Jenna Diaz and Martina Urgo helped the Beats establish a 14-6 advantage.
• A fiery ace by Clemons spearheaded a 3-0 spurt to cut the deficit to five (14-9). 
• Ahead 15-10, the Bears claimed seven consecutive points to lengthen their edge to 12 (22-10), ultimately claiming a 25-14 set victory.

Second Set Breakdown

• A trio of aces and kills led the way to an 8-1 start for St. Joseph's.
• Helped with a kill from York's Maria Ventura, the Cardinals made it a 10-5 scoreline.
• Four aces from Taylor Knight pushed the Bears' advantage to 11 (16-5). 
• Leading 18-8, St. Joseph's claimed the final seven points of the stanza.

Third Set Breakdown

• A pair of kills by Knight and a pair of aces by Jillian McGinty helped the Bears get off to an 8-2 start.
• Ahead 9-3, Knight's serve produced five straight points to push St. Joseph's advantage to 11 (14-3).
• Clemons brought spark to York with a kill and an ace to trim the deficit to nine (14-5).
• Pulling away, the Bears finalized the match with an 11-1 blitz.

Leading the Cardinals

• Clemons paced York's attack with a team-high three kills and two aces.
• Simranjit Kaur tallied two kills on eight attacks.
• Jachimma Onwuamaegbu added a kill and a solo block. Both her and Clemons each had a team-best 10 attacks.
• Jasmine Vega scooped up a team-leading nine digs and Samantha Panameno authored two assists. 

For St. Joseph's Brooklyn

• Knight controlled the pace with a match-best 14 points (seven kills and seven aces) to go along with a team-high six digs.
• Urgo added seven kills and three aces. 
• Rachel Meltsin orchestrated the offense with 22 assists and served up seven aces of her own. 
• Diaz spiked down five kills and Nikiya Philemon totaled six aces.

Inside the Box Score
York hit -.106 on 47 attacks, while St. Joseph's attacked at a rate of .321 on 53 swings. The Bears also had the advantage in points (56-10), kills (25-7), aces (31-2), assists (23-3) and digs (25-17). At the net, the Cardinals recorded one block as opposed to zero for the Bears.

Up Next
The Cardinals (0-1) return to action Sunday (Sept. 8) against the Yeshiva University Maccabees (0-2) starting at 1 p.m. in a road matchup inside Arc Arena.  

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