NEW ROCHELLE, N.Y., October 29, 2022 – It did not come easy, but the No. 20-ranked Monroe College Mustangs women's volleyball team achieved its first postseason goal of the year on Saturday, defeating Harford Community College in four sets at the Monroe Athletic Complex for the Region 15/20 Championship. The Mustangs advance to next weekend's Gulf Atlantic District Championship tournament in Alabama and improve to 32-6 overall with their 18th straight win, while the Fighting Owls fall to 14-7.
The Mustangs got off to a hot start, scoring the first six points of the match on Saturday. The lead later reached 10 points when the Mustangs went up, 16-6. Nine straight points for Monroe put the Mustangs up, 23-6, before closing out the opening frame with a 25-8 win to go up, 1-0.
The Mustangs fell into an early hole when the Fighting Owls jumped out to a 10-5 lead. The Mustangs came back with four straight points to get within one, but Harford maintained some momentum to fire back with five points in a row to go back up by six. The Mustangs scored 3-of-4 to get within three, but the Fighting Owls picked up the next two to take an 18-13 lead, forcing the Mustangs to call a rare timeout on their home court. The Mustangs went down, 22-17, but picked up three straight points to make it a two-point game, leading to a timeout for Harford. Facing set point, the Mustangs scored three straight to get within one, but a service error gave the Fighting Owls the game, tying the match at 1-1.
The third set saw the Fighting Owls continue to hang tight with the Mustangs, but Monroe never looked back after taking an early 6-5 lead. Monroe led by five at 13-8, but could not put the Fighting Owls away. Late in the game, Monroe's 21-16 edge soon became 21-19, but Monroe forced set point at 24-20. Harford got another point to keep the Mustangs on edge, but a kill by Manon Braunsteffer put the game away with a 25-21 win to put Monroe up, 25-21.
The third-set win gave the Mustangs their rhythm back, seeing them jump out to an 11-4 advantage in the fourth frame. Five straight points by Monroe forced Harford to use a timeout with the Mustangs ahead by 10 at 17-7. The lead reached 13 points at 21-8 before the Fighting Owls got back within eight with five straight points. The Mustangs got one back, but another two by Harford got the visitors within seven. The Mustangs managed to hold down the fort and pick up two straight points to finish off the match with a 25-16 win to claim the Region Title.
Yaliancis Flores threw down 19 kills in the win, adding thee digs and two blocks. Leanisse Solano registered a double-double with 10 kills and 15 digs, while Braunsteffer had another efficient evening, hitting .692 with 10 kills, as well as a team-high six blocks. Francesca Andreon dished out a match-high 40 assists in the win to go with six digs, two aces and three kills. Laura Paniagua led the team with 20 digs and five aces, adding three assists as well. Alessia Gallo contributed three aces and three digs as well.
The Mustangs are now set for next weekend's Gulf Atlantic District A/B Championship tournament, which will be held Nov. 4-6 at the Mobile Civic Center in Mobile, Ala. More information about the tournament will be announced early in the week.
ABOUT THE ATHLETIC PROGRAM AT MONROE COLLEGE
The athletic program at Monroe College encompasses a total of 35 teams competing across nine sports. There are 21 varsity and junior varsity programs, as well the Monroe College marching band and the newly added esports and men's volleyball programs, competing on the New Rochelle campus as the Mustangs (NJCAA Division I). The Monroe Express, based out of the Bronx campus, has 11 teams competing at the NJCAA Division III level.
For more information about the Monroe Mustangs, please visit us at
www.MonroeCollegeMustangs.com or follow us on social media: Facebook (
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