On Oct. 30 and 31, the volleyball team competed in the Dig Pink Invitational hosted by SUNY Oneonta and saw its eight match winning streak come to a close in the last match. The weekend provided action galore for Bombers as their defense continued to dominate and their offense soared. The Bombers were able to push past Oneonta and SUNY Plattsburgh with two 3–0 wins, but was handed a 3–0 loss by Ramapo College.
The Bombers came to play on Oct. 30 against SUNY Plattsburgh, not forgetting to bring their electric offense and formidable defense. The Blue and Gold ended up defeating Plattsburgh 3–0 by scores of 25–13, 25–12 and 23–21.
Sophomore captain Joelle Goldstein led all players with 12 kills and contributed 10 digs and an ace in the effort. Just one game after surpassing 1,000 assists on the year, the first Bomber to do that since 2009, sophomore captain Kayla Gromen was back at work, dishing out 29 assists and recording 11 digs.
Junior Breanne Tuohy and freshman Katie Evans anchored the superb defense, each recording three blocks and helping hold Plattsburgh to a dismal .106 percent hitting average and only 29 points over three sets on the evening. The defense also aided in forcing a total of 14 errors.
Plattsburgh put up little fight against the Bombers, but freshman Sydney Gabriel was able to lead her team with six kills and 14 assists.
The Bombers continued to wreak havoc on their opponents in the second game of the tournament when they went up against SUNY Oneonta, the hosts of the invitational, and recorded their fifth consecutive sweep on the season, taking down Oneonta 25–22, 25–19 and 25–19.
In a game that the South Hill squad had a little bit more work to do, freshman Amanda Cerruti and sophomore Marlee Wierda rose to the occasion. Cerruti recorded seven kills and four blocks, while Wierda stepped up in the contest, having one of her best games of the season as she racked up 12 digs and an ace.
As usual, sophomore captain Kayla Gromen played another consistent match, serving up 36 assists and two aces to help bring the Bombers to victory. Oneonta was able to play defense particularly well, recording 11 blocks, which was a huge part of the team’s ability to play the Bombers so close in each game.
Riding high on two dominant wins to start the tournament, the Bombers’ fortune changed when they found themselves on the losing end of a match, falling 24–26, 25–27 and 18–25 to the Ramapo Roadrunners.
It was an intense game, as Ramapo and the Blue and Gold went back and forth for most of the match, and when they were not trading points, each squad was on its own string of points.
In the end, Ramapo’s high-powered offense was able to push it over the finish line, causing the Bombers to drop only their fourth game of the year. Goldstein led the Bomber effort with nine kills and 16 digs, Gromen added 28 assists and 12 digs and senior captain Dylan Gawinski-Stern contributed 16 digs.
All in all, the Bombers escaped the weekend going 2–1 in the Dig Pink Invitational and improved to 28–4 on the season. Next on the schedule is the Empire 8 Championship at 2:30 p.m. Nov. 7 against the Nazareth College Golden Flyers in Hoboken, New Jersey.
