Lions End Regular Season With 5 Set Victory over Harford
North Branch, NJ - The RVCC Lions finished their regular season with an exclamation point on Thursday night with a 3-2 victory over the Fighting Owls from Harford Community College. The win marks the first in decades for the Lions over an NJCAA Division I opponent. Harford came into the contest with a 14-2 overall record, 9-0 mark in the tough MD Juco conference, and riding an 11 game winning streak. The Lions had just captured their 4th Garden State Athletic Conference Championship in a row the night before with a win over Ocean County College, so both teams were playing at their peak.
Every set was close with a number of very long rallies. On both sides of the net, whenever it seemed that the ball would certainly hit the floor, the teams somehow managed to keep it alive. The Lions took the first two sets with scores of 25-20 and 25-18. The Fighting Owls forced their way into a fifth set with third and fourth set wins of 25-19 and 25-21. This was the first 5 set game that either team played this year, but the fatigue took a back seat to the heart of both teams. With the score tied at 7-7 in the last frame, the Lions found a way to get their offense going to push ahead for a 13-8 lead. Two points later, the Lions ended the game with Kaili Fitzpatrick's team high 25th kill for a 15-9 win. Fitzpatrick had a monster double double as she posted 25 digs as well. Olivia Sims, the teams' powerful middle hitter, had 12 kills to help the Lions offense. Sims was a force to be reckoned with at the net as she was constantly slamming over passes, blocking shots, and hammering home free balls onto the Owls side of the floor causing chaos for them all night long. Izabela Bar continued to be the driving force behind the teams' offense registering 40 assists on the night. Jaiden English, Brittany Jensen and Bri Rojas were instrumental on the defensive end as all three had double digit digs, English and Jensen with 10 and Rojas with 11. English also registered 3 service aces, as did Fitzpatrick.
The win was extra special for the Lions as they celebrated their Sophomores before and after the game. Karina Arias and Xaviera Wilson were recognized by their teammates for their dedication and importance to the team. The two were members of the Lions' last Conference and Region Championship team in 2019. Arias finished the night with 2 kills, 2 digs and 1 service ace. Wilson played an important role as a serving specialist for the Lions on the night, as she has one of the more dangerous serves on the team.
The Lions currently sit at 21-5 on the year and are the #1 seed in the Region XIX tournament. RVCC will host the winner of #4 Atlantic Cape and #5 Union County on Saturday, October 30th for a chance to win the Region Championship.