New York, New York - In a potential preview of the 2022 Region 15 Championship, the BMCC women's volleyball team dropped a highly competitive, close five-set thriller at Regional opponent Monroe-Bronx on Tuesday night. The Panthers 11-5 (11-3 Region XV) took two of the first three sets, winning the first 25-21, then after dropping the second 25-18, they took the third 25-13 before the Express 15-1 (12-1 Region XV) won the final two 25-17 and 15-11.

Three Panthers put up double-doubles in the match led by Sophomore Josanne Lewis (Rochester, Minnesota), who posted her team-best 12th of the season with a team-high 22 kills to go along with 10 digs. Classmate Xheni Doci (Saluzzo, Italy) dished out a team-high 34 assists to go along with 12 digs for her third straight double-double and her ninth of the season. Doci and Lewis also tied a team-best with two service aces apiece.

Freshman Johana Boleaga Ramirez (Brooklyn, New York) led the Panthers in hitting percentage with a team-high .375, while classmate Cheyenne Gray-Taitt (Harlem, New York) contributed on offense with a career-high five kills and hit .333, also a career-best.

Freshman Emmanuella Aurel (New York, New York) led Borough of Manhattan Community College on defense with a team-best 15 digs while chipping on offense with her second double-digit kill game with 11.

After both teams traded the first 16 points in the opening set, BMCC used a 10-2 to build their lead to its largest, 18-10, before Monroe-Bronx roared back with a 9-2 surge to cut the deficit down to one, 20-19 before the Panthers recorded five of the final seven points to take the opening set 25-21.

Both teams would exchange the lead once and be tied twice in the second set. After the score was deadlocked at four apiece, the Express would record the following four points to get their lead to 8-4. Gray-Taitt and Lewis would notch the next two points on a kill and service ace to cut the deficit to 8-6, but that was as close as the Panthers would get as the Express would record six of the next seven points to stretch their lead to seven, 14-7 and 20-13 later en route to a 25-18 second set win.

The Panthers went off in the third set, posting their best team numbers of the match, hitting at a .303 percent clip with just two attack errors. BMCC raced out to a 7-1 lead, and after Monroe-Bronx got as close as four, 9-5, they rolled off an 8-2 run to get their lead to 17-7 and cruised from there to a 25-13 third set victory.

Both teams competed hard for the first 18 points in a do-or-die fourth set with two different lead changes and four ties. The Express put together a 9-2 run to build their lead to six, 18-12, then 10, 24-14, en route to forcing a fifth set with a fourth set win 25-17.

The Panthers notched four of the first seven points of an extremely competitive fifth set to lead 4-3 before Monroe-Bronx would record the following three points to lead by two, 6-4. However, the Express would not relinquish their lead for the rest of the fifth frame as three Lewis kills would get BMCC within one, 6-5, and two twice, 8-6 and 10-8, before Monroe-Bronx closed it out with five of the final eight points to rally from down two sets to one to take the match with a 15-11 win.

Lisanel Rodriguez carried the Monroe-Bronx offensive attack with a double-double uncorking a game-high 23 kills and posting 13 digs. Luisanni Rodriguez distributed a game-best 38 assists, while Valery Nunez placed a game-high five service aces.

Emely Diaz held down the backline for the Express, corralling a game-high 21 digs, while Rodriguez and Nunez handled 13 digs apiece.

Notables:  

• Josanne Lewis (Rochester, Minnesota) leads the Panthers with 241 kills which is the third most in a single season, and she leads the team with 13 double-digit kill games and has 20 or more kills in five contests this season.  She is also second in the country with 4.87 Kills Per Set. 
• Lewis is second in digs with 209, which is the fourth most in a single season, and she has recorded four straight double-digit dig games with 12 double-digit dig games on the season.
• Xheni Doci (Saluzzo, Italy) leads the Panthers with 346 assists, which is the fifth most in a single season. Doci leads the Panthers with 13 double-digit assist performances, four 30-assist performances with two straight, and 10 matches with 20 or more assists. Doci leads the Panthers with 73 service aces and leads the country in service aces per set at 1.54. Doci is also second on the team with nine double-doubles on the season 
• Emmanuella Aurel (New York, New York) leads the Panthers with 252 Digs which is the third most in a single season, and is tops on the team in blocks with 19. 
• Aurel has 11 double-digit dig games with two 30-dig performances.
• Aurel is second with 101 kills and 46 service aces. 

The Panthers will look for a season split in two days with Region 15 opponent Fashion Institute of Technology on the road Thursday, October 13, at 7 p.m. For more information, please visit the BMCC Women's Volleyball Schedule Page.


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The athletic program at Borough of Manhattan Community College encompasses a total of eight varsity teams competing at the NJCAA Division III level. For the latest news on the Panthers, please visit us at https://bmccathletics.com - The official site of BMCC Athletics. Follow the Panthers on Instagram (@bmcc_athletics) and Twitter (@BMCCAthletics), and Like Us on Facebook (BMCC Athletics).