Written by Andrew Capitelli (SJC-LI Sports Information)

Patchogue, NY| The St. Joseph's College (L.I.) women's volleyball team earned a split in a non-conference tri-match inside the Danzi Center on Saturday afternoon defeating Baruch College (3-0) in the opening match before dropping 3-0 decision to Manhattanville College in the closer.

The the split sees the Golden Eagles move to 2-8 on the year before opening conference play on at the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy on Tuesday evening.

SJC 3, Baruch 0

St. Joseph's took a 6-5 lead early in the first when sophomore Jessica Nicholson put down her first kill of the match and set her side off on a 20-8 run to earn a 25-13 victory.

Similarly in the second, with the score tied at eight, a 5-0 run put the Golden Eagles firmly in command of the frame and eventually went up 24-12. Baruch rallied for four-straight points (24-16), but freshman Danielle Silkin's kill clinched second-set victory for the hosts (25-16).

An epic third set saw SJC battle from behind for the entire frame, recovering from a 17-12 deficit to tie the score at 24, 25, 26 and 27 before pulling ahead 28-27.

The Bearcats fought back and went up 31-30, but three-straight points by the Golden Eagles, which featured a pair of kills off the hand of senior Morgan Tiska, earned SJC the 33-31 set win and a three-game sweep.

Tiska hit .407 in the match and collected a game-best 13 kills. Freshman Kaitlin Williams matched a season-best with 10 kills of her own, and junior Danielle Senecal was credited with a game-high 24 digs.

Senior Claire Urizzo went for six kills, three service aces and 10 digs.

Manhattanville 3, SJC 0

After falling behind 17-13 in the first set, SJC used a 6-1 run to go up 19-18 but eventually fell 26-24 after consecutive kills by Kerry Mackey.

The Golden Eagles would go on to drop the second set 25-16 and failed to respond in the third, suffering a 25-15 defeat and a three-game sweep.

Williams led the SJC attack with a team-best 12 kills, while Urizzo and Tiska contributed nine and eight, respectively.

Urizzo would also collect 12 digs, bested only on the team by Senecal, who racked up 22.

SJC's contest at USMMA on Tuesday, September 26 starts at 7:00 pm. Live video and stats available here.