NEW ROCHELLE, N.Y. – The William Paterson volleyball team (16-10) came up short in their final matchup of the 2017 season, dropping a 3-1 decision to the College of New Rochelle (16-10) in a non-conference road matchup.
 
Sophomore Alyson Toman (Secaucus, N.J./Secaucus) led the Pioneers with 14 kills on the night behind a .282 hitting percentage. Junior Christine Griffith (Upper Saddle River, N.J./Northern Highlands Regional) added a double-double with 12 kills and 10 digs, while also chipping in three service aces and two blocks. Junior Irina Zaytseva (Elmwood Park, N.J./Tenafly) led the defensive efforts with 15 digs on the night to go with a career-high three blocks. Sophomore Barbara Colizza (Hawthorne, N.J./Hawthorne) was right behind Zaytseva with a career-best 14 digs of her own, and senior Julianna Ginefra (Springfield, N.J./Jonathan Dayton) closed out her career with a 13 dig output.
 
It was a tight battle all night between the two squads, with three of the four sets determined by three points or less. Neither team was able to gain a significant advantage in the opening stanza, as it was a one-point game for most of the closing stretch. WP earned a 25-24 advantage after a Toman kill, but the Blue Angels rallied for three unanswered points to steal the set, 27-25.
 
The trend continued into the second frame, where the Pioneers could only pull out by as many as two points before a New Rochelle attack error made it set point at 24-21. After a Blue Angel point, Toman closed out the set with a kill to level the match, 1-1. A rally by the Blue Angels in the middle of the third helped New Rochelle pull out to a 17-11 lead and that advantage was all that it needed to keep ahead of the Pioneers, taking a 2-1 advantage in the match with a 25-19 set victory.
 
WP was not ready to close out the season without a fight though, jumping out to an early 4-0 lead in the fourth. After New Rochelle chipped away at the lead to level the scoring at the midway point, it turned into another tough battle, with the two teams exchanging leads several times over the next few points. Toman put down a kill to tie the score, 23-23, but the Blue Angels responded with two consecutive points to close out the match, 3-1.
 
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