BLOOMFIELD, NJ – The Bears volleyball team captivated fans in The Den Saturday afternoon as they took visiting Holy Family University to five sets before surrendering, 3-2 at home. Bloomfield celebrated Senior Day as the program recognized their 2024 graduates with a pre-game ceremony. The Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference (CACC) setback left the Bears with a 3-14 overall record and a 3-12 mark in league contests. The Tigers improved to 10-18 overall and 8-7 in conference play as they still remain in the post-season playoff hunt.
Lauryn Hansford and Esther Dogbe were honored before the start of the match as the seniors were brought to center court for the festivities. Hansford went over 1,500 career assists during the game and has tallied 108 service aces for the Bears. Dogbe, who leads the team in kills this season has 457 total kills and 989 total attacks for her career. Bloomfield also took some time to honor the three seniors from Holy Family, Natasha Yanief, Maeve Boylan and Ashley Petrasovic. Danielle Walters, a Bloomfield senior softball-to-volleyball convert was also honored by the program when she arrived after Fall softball practice.
The visitors clawed out a 25-17 victory in Set 1 before the Bears roared back for a tight, 26-24 win in Set 2. The Tigers again pounced and took a, 25-21 Set 3 lead but Bloomfield hung on in the fourth set, 25-18 and forced a deciding set. The teams went back and forth in the see-saw battle but the Tigers prevailed 15-13 in the fifth set.
Seniors Dogbe and Hansford each had tremendous games to put the home team in position to win. Dogbe recorded game-highs of 15 kills and 5 blocks while Hansford recorded team-highs of 15 assists and 4 service aces to go along with 18 digs. Amanda Arroyo had an excellent game with 21 assists and three blocks while Libero, Sophia Wintonick racked up a season and game-high, 21 digs.
Bloomfield will close out their 2023 campaign a week from now when they hit the road against Jefferson University. The Saturday, November 11 CACC contest os set for 12:00 pm in the City of Brotherly Love.
If you missed the excitement of today's match-up or you'd like to see it again, you can click this link to watch it ON DEMAND.
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