Women’s Volleyball’s Season Ends In Semifinals
By Oscar Docavo
The Brooklyn College women’s volleyball team’s playoff run began on Tuesday, Nov. 7, resulting in the Bulldogs sweeping City College 3-0.
This generation of Bulldogs is unaccustomed to playing in the quarter-finals, having had a “bye week” in their past two seasons as first and second-placed teams get to rest and have a week off in the playoffs. This season, however, the Bulldogs were the fourth-best team in the conference. Their position meant they had to play fifth-placed City College.
The Bulldogs won each set with scores of 8-25, 20-25, and 15-25 respectively. The first set was all Brooklyn. The Bulldogs began the set with a 10-0 scoring run. The score was 19-8 as the Bulldogs wrapped it up with six unanswered points.
In the second set, the Beavers came out with a 3-0 lead. The lead was exchanged several times throughout the set. The Bulldogs were ahead 22-20 before senior Megan Ortiz-Mengedoht had a block assist and a kill in back-to-back scores. Junior Aleah Rafat put CCNY to sleep with back-to-back scores to close out the second set.
The third set saw the Beavers manage consecutive scores on a few occasions, but could not withstand the Bulldogs. The Bulldogs swatted their uptown rivals aside with minimal effort to the backdrop of a roaring West Quad. Senior Katia Mercado provided her teammates with 13 assists, which was only one away from tying her season high. Rafat was on the receiving end of many of those assists. Rafat finished her night with 12 kills, two aces, and eight digs. The junior was key to Brooklyn’s impressive display.
Ahead of their semifinal matchup with first-placed Hunter College, three Bulldogs were honored by CUNYAC. Both Ashley Fung and Rafat were named CUNYAC second-team all-stars. The accolades are well-deserved as Fung and Rafat are a duo that empowers the Bulldogs. In addition, Ruti Joshi was named to the conference’s sportsmanship team. Joshi has emerged as a key player for the Bulldogs in her sophomore year at BC. At the time of her nomination, she was fifth in CUNYAC for digs, providing 3.39 per set.
The Bulldogs’ season came to a close in the semifinals of the CUNYAC tournament. On Wednesday, Nov. 9, the Bulldogs traveled to Hunter College’s Sportsplex and lost 3-0.
Although the Bulldogs lost, fans can walk away knowing that their team lost to the eventual champions. Brooklyn did not go out sadly, taking the lead in each of the three sets. However, the defending champions at Hunter had the scoring depth to come back each time. Brooklyn kept it competitive with scores of 20-25, 23-25, and 18-25 in each respective set.
The Bulldogs’ resilience was thanks in no small part to Fung. The Bulldog legend produced one of her best stat lines of the season. Fung produced eight kills, one ace, nine digs, and one block, leading the team in digs and kills. It was a tough loss, but the Bulldogs left it all on the court.
The Bulldogs are entering a transitional period with key players soon graduating. Fans can rest assured that the team will still contain two-time CUNYAC second-team all-star Rafat. As well as Rafat, the Bulldogs will feature Olivia Fan next season, one of the team’s best blockers, second-team all-star and CUNYAC champion Sydney Gdanski, and Joshi. There will be many others who can also step up next fall.
Men’s Basketball Starts The Season 0-2
By Sean Markisic
Brooklyn College kicked off the men’s basketball season in New Jersey on Wednesday, Nov. 8, as the team went up against William Paterson University. The game was a close battle, with both teams trading blows. However, BC came up short 70-66.
BC junior Malik Dale had a standout performance, scoring 31 points while shooting 12-22 from the field. The Bulldogs closed the first quarter on a 16-2 run to get themselves back in the game, but never had the chance to take over and win. During the fourth quarter, the Bulldogs gave up a 10-0 run near the three-minute mark of the closing quarter and were unable to recover.
The Bulldogs had their home opener on Saturday, Nov. 11, against New Jersey City University, ending with BC losing 71-51.
From the get-go, the Bulldogs had to play catch up as they went on a 10-2 run toward the end of the first quarter. Despite the early struggles, the Bulldogs clawed back to end the first quarter 24-23. Jersey City rescinded with a 12-0 run to take command once again in the second quarter. From there, the Bulldogs went on to chip away at the lead, but were never truly able to make a comeback in the second half. The Bulldogs only shot 34% from the field, which does not lead to a win.
Women’s Basketball Pulls Off Comeback In Home Opener
By Oscar Docavo
A new era began for Brooklyn College’s women’s basketball on Saturday, Nov. 11. Coach Megan Campbell’s first game as head coach ended in a 45-40 victory against visiting Stockton University.
Both teams started out very slowly on offense, with more fouls than buckets in the first two minutes. Neither team shot very accurately in the first quarter. This could have been impacted by the quality of defense, with both teams rebounding well.
In the second half, Stockton pulled away from BC, sinking their only three-pointer of the game and capitalizing on some of the Bulldogs’ turnovers. Down by six points and approaching the half, things were looking bleak for Brooklyn. When Brooklyn needed a spark, sophomore guard Dior Dorsey answered the call. Dorsey put away both free throws before halftime, bringing the Bulldogs within four of the Ospreys. With rebounds from senior Sarah James and points from junior Alina Estrella, the Bulldogs brought the score to 20-19. The Ospreys then went up by seven. Brooklyn’s defense stepped up big time to allow their shooters to do what they do best.
Brooklyn started to get a lot more out of their bench in the second half. Junior forward Mary Dolgin came off the bench to score seven points and four rebounds. Brooklyn’s bench went from providing only two points in the first half to scoring 16 in the second. Junior Destiny Drummond nailed a pair of free throws to give the Bulldogs the lead. A steal from freshman guard Anna Kitch led to a lay-up from Dorsey to extend the Bulldogs’ lead to three. Dorsey and Drummond added to their team’s lead before Stockton started to make their way back into the game. The Bulldogs went on to clinch their comeback. Junior guard Suliat Afolabi knocked down a vital three-pointer before icing the game from the line. Estrella also added to Brooklyn’s cushion with a free throw.
Brooklyn closed out the victory in front of an eager West Quad crowd. Brooklyn’s bench and defense were key to the victory. The Bulldogs had more points off turnovers and their bench out-scored the visitors. In Estrella’s first game for the team, she led the team in scoring with nine points and provided five rebounds and three assists. James led the team in rebounding with six.
Coach Campbell kicked off her tenure with a win. Not only was it a thrilling comeback, but Coach Campbell made the adjustment she needed to make when the team was down. Clearly, the Bulldogs responded well to their new coach.