NEWBURGH, NY - The NYU-Poly Women's Volleyball team won a dramatic five set match against the Sage Colleges in the Skyline Conference Semifinals held at Mount Saint Mary College on Sunday. The Lady Jays, who won 21-25, 25-22, 25-16, 19-25, and 15-13, advance to play the top-seeded hosts, while Sage's title run falls short and stand at 20-12 and must wait for the announcement of the ECAC Tournament field following the NCAA tournament announcement.
The Lady Jays (13-25) jumped out to a 4-2 lead and after Sage closed it to 4-4, NYU-Poly expanded the lead to 10-5 behind the serving of junior Megan Moran (Reno, NV).
Sage would answer behind the serving of junior setter Joanie Cooney (Ballston Lake, NY/Shenendehowa) to rally and gain its first lead at 12-11, another ace by Cooney led to a 13-11 lead and a NYU-Poly time out.
Out of the time out, NYU-Poly got a side out to stop the bleeding and got a kill by senior Noelle Mc Koy to tie it followed by a kill by senior Corey Loupee (Crown Point, IN) to retake the lead 14-13.
After four ties and six lead changes, Sage was able to pull out to a 22-18 lead before senior Shelby Bruns (Elko, NV) was able to get a side out with a kill down the line. But, the Gators grabbed the serve right back and after a kill by rookie Morgan Robinson (Ballston Lake, NY/Shenendehowa) took a 24-19 lead.
NYU-Poly got the side out at 24-20 and then earned two points to make it 24-21 before Robinson smacked a kill down the right line for the first set win.
In set two, NYU-Poly was propelled to a quick 4-0 lead thanks to the serving of McKoy. The Lady Jays maintained the four point lead – holding a 10-6 margin before Cooney again served the Gators back into it trailing just 10-9.
Sage would tie the match 13-13 on a receiving error by NYU-Poly and took its first lead 15-14 on a hitting error by the Lady Jays. But, Moran ended the run with a kill to tie it at 15-15 and then served the way to an 18-15 lead for NYU-Poly on three straight powerful serves.
Before the Lady Jays knew it Sage had tied it and took a lead on a blocking kill by sophomore Helen Putriment (Troy, NY/Cobleskill-Richmondville) to go up 19-18. Loupee and company answered, as the senior powered down a kill and a block to push the Lady Jays to a 21-19 lead and a Sage timeout.
After the timeout, Loupee earned another kill before a NYU-Poly service error gave the serve back to Sage at 22-20. A receiving error followed to make it 22-21 and force the Lady Jays to call timeout. It would work, as the serving of freshmen Alyssa Niquette (Lake Havasu City, AZ) gave the Jays match point and Loupee finished it off with a kill off a Sage player out of bounds.
Set three started off just like the first two, as the teams battled to an early 7-7 draw before the Lady Jays opened up a 17-11 lead thanks again to the serving of Moran and then erupted for a 22-13 lead in part of the hitting game. At 23-13, Loupee stuffed a Sage attempt to make it 24-14. After two Sage points, Moran slammed down the game winner to give NYU-Poly a 2-1 lead.
The third game saw Sage jump out to a 5-0 lead and hold the lead until the Lady Jays were able to even it up at 15-15. However, Sage regained its composure and ran off four straight points, including two impressive rallies that each went over the net nine times. Loupee again ended the run with a kill to make it 19-16
After trading points, Sage went up 23-17 before hitting a ball out to make it 23-18 and the serve back to Poly. But it was one and done as the ball went back to Sage who served to tie the match with a 25-19 win.
NYU-Poly started the over-time period with the serve and got the first four points due to the hard hitting serve of Niquette before Sage got a little help with a deflection off a NYU-Poly player to make it 4-1. Loupee then served the team to an 8-2 lead and a switch of sides.
Sage clawed back into it thanks to two errors by the Lady Jays to make it 9-5. Robinson blocked the next point to make it 9-6 and another receiving error made it 9-7. The teams went back and forth eventually making it 11-9 before a huge service ace by Moran hit the back line to make it 12-9. Another Lady Jay kill made it 13-9 before a hitting error gave Sage the serve at 13-10. A kill by sophomore Jillian Schwab (Fayetteville, NY/Fayetteville-Manlius) and a hitting error by Poly made it 13-12. Putriment hit the next ball out of play to make it 14-12 and game point for NYU-Poly. At 14-13, Sage had a chance to tie but hit the attack out of play and sent the Lady Jays back to the title game foe the 4th straight year.
Loupee had a team high 16 kills, while senior Steph Serrano was all over the place in the floor racking up a game-high 32 digs. Bruns, Moran, and McKoy all added 9 kills, with Bruns adding 23 digs and Moran tallying five aces.
For Sage, Putriment led the way with 14 kills and 20 digs, while Cooney had 30 assists and two aces. Robinson added 9 kills.
