NEW YORK - The Yeshiva University women's volleyball team opened up Skyline Conference play with a loss to St. Joseph's University Brooklyn, in straight sets, at the ARC Arena on Sunday afternoon. All three sets ended with the score of 25-12. It was Yeshiva's first home match of the season.
Leading the way for the Maccabees (0-2, 0-1 Skyline) was junior
Ashley Botnick, who led all players with 11 digs, while tallying three kills and adding three assists. Classmate
Zoey Botnick and freshman
Shany Elmaleh each contributed on defense by recording six digs, with the former providing two kills on the attack. Senior
Tali Miller generated two kills, three assists, and four digs.
In the opening set, senior
Emily Zrihen scored an ace to give the Macs a 5-4 advantage. After the Bears (1-0, 1-0 Skyline) scored the next two points to take the lead, sophomore
Adira Sklar slammed home a kill to even the game up at six points apiece. However, St. Joseph's took over by going on a 13-1 run to take a commanding 19-7 hold. The Bears went on to win the opening set.
In the second set, Miller and Botnick produced back-to-back kills that sparked YU to an eventual 6-5 benefit. St. Joseph's countered by going on a big run, this time by a 14-2 margin, to put YU in a 19-8 hole.The visiting team finished off the second stanza to put YU on the brink.
The Macs got off to a strong start in the third game, as a kill by senior
Gabrielle Kupferman highlighted a 4-1 Macs run to begin the set. Once again, St. Joseph's answered with a big rally as its 16-3 blitz put YU behind, 17-7. The Bears went on to win their season opener in straight sets.
For YU, Kupferman had four digs, while Sklar provided a pair of kills and a dig. Senior
Sara Chemel entered the match in the third set and tallied a dig.
For St. Joseph's Brooklyn, senior Julie Boyd had four kills, 10 digs, and three service aces. Classmate Kaitlin Intindola and sophomore Martina Urgo each scored seven kills, with the former having nine assists and the latter scoring six service aces.
Yeshiva will battle Sarah Lawrence College, in a league battle at Campbell Sports Center, on Tuesday evening. First serve is scheduled for 7:00 p.m.
