THROGGS NECK, NY - The Maritime College women's volleyball team couldn't end their mid-season skid as they fell in straight sets to St. Joseph's College - Brooklyn on Tuesday night.

The Privateers started off the match playing stellar defense against the Bears and kept the set close. Three straight kills from Brooke Kirchner (Lawrence, NY/Lawrence), Rebecca Garcia (Yonkers, NY/Academy of Mount St. Ursula), and Erica Pagano (Lawrence, NY/Lawrence) helped Maritime take a 8-7 lead early on, but St. Joseph's responded a few points later with five straight points for a 13-9 advantage. The big run swung the momentum in the Bears favor and they were able to run away with the set 25-17.

Despite the disappointing start to the match, Maritime came back strong in the second set. Trailing 13-8, the Privateers won six of the next seven points to tie up the set at 14 points. The run was spurred by three aces from Maritime, with two from Pagano and one from Erika Kirchner (Meadowmere Park, N.Y./Lawrence). Later in the set, Pagano continued to help the Privateers make a push to even up the set as back-to-back kills from the freshman gave them a one-point lead. With the set tied at 23, Erika Kirchner (Meadowmere Park, N.Y./Lawrence) turned to Celyna Custodio (Danbury, Conn./Danbury) out of the middle, who powered down a kill to give Maritime a set point. Unfortunately, they were unable to convert and ultimately fell by a score of 26-24.

The third set was dominated by St. Joseph's as they kept their energy and momentum going from the big second set win. The Bears went on to win the third and final set 25-13 to take the Skyline Conference matchup.

Custodio tallied 13 kills in the match and a .226 hitting percentage, while Pagano totaled six of her own. Kirchner tallied 23 assists while Abby Solomos (Mt. Sinai, N.Y./Mt. Sinai) and Meghan Eagleton (Poughkeepsie, N.Y./Roy C. Ketcham) led the back line with 17 and 13 digs, respectively.

The loss drops the Privateers to 3-18 overall and 1-7 in conference play. They will take the court again on Thursday when they travel to Sarah Lawrence for another conference matchup.