Box Score

New York, New York | The #2-seed BMCC women's volleyball team fell in the 2019 CUNYAC Community College Conference Championship match to #1-seed Queensborough in straight sets – 25-19, 25-15, 25-14 – on Monday night at the BMCC Gymnasium. The Tigers won their fifth straight conference title and eighth overall to improve their record to 19-5, while the Panthers fall to 9-9.

For their performances in both of the Panthers' CUNYAC Championship matches this evening, Sophomores Nolverys Fernandez (Santiago, Dominican Republic) and Lauren Malcolm (Bronx, New York) were named to the 2019 CUNYAC/Pepsi Community College Women's Volleyball All-Tournament Team. Fernandez led all swingers with eight kills, while Malcolm put away four kills of her own.

Freshman Kaylin Nieves (New York, New York) dished out a team-high 13 assists, while sophomore Laisha Ulerio (La Vega, Dominican Republic) and freshman Danielle Singson (Jersey City, New Jersey) led the Panthers defensively with 15 digs. Fernandez also contributed with 12 digs in the match. 

The first set was the most competitive of the match, with Queensborough taking an early 6-2 lead and BMCC fighting back to tie it at ten and take the lead 11-10 on a kill from freshman Andecia Liverpool (Georgetown, Guyana). After back-to-back service errors put the Panthers back in front 12-11 and knotted it up at 12-12, Queensborough used a 7-1 run to stretch their advantage to 19-13. The Panthers wouldn't go quietly, however, as they fought back to within three at 21-18 before the Tigers rolled off four of the five final points to clinch the set, 25-19. 

The second set was deja-vu as the Tigers jumped out to an early 7-2 advantage, and the Panthers again rallied, this time using a 6-2 run to get within one twice at 8-7 and 9-8. After Fernandez's kill got BMCC within two at 13-11, Queensborough would take it from there with a 12-4 run to close out the set, 25-15.

The Panthers built two early leads of 5-3 and 8-6 in the third set before the Tigers rolled off a 13-1 run to stretch their lead to 19-9. Queensborough never looked back and cruised to a 25-14 third set victory and a 3-0 match triumph.  

Freshman Bianca Brielle fueled the Queensborough offense with a team-best 12 kills in the final, while sophomores Paige Hughes, Tiffany Garcia-Lawson, and Chidera Nwaghanata all chipped in with six kills apiece. 

Freshman Amira Durkovic dished out a match-high 26 assists, while sophomore Rachel Medina led backline with 20 digs.

Both teams will be back at it in three days on Thursday, Oct. 24, for the first round of the 2019 Region XV Women's Volleyball Tournament at BMCC Gymnasium. The opening serve is at 7 p.m. For more information, please visit the BMCC Women's Volleyball Schedule Page.