The Rangers faced St. Joseph’s College Long Island in the Baldwin Gym on Feb. 3 in what started out as a close matchup, only to end in a crushing defeat for Drew as the Golden Eagles won three straight sets.
The first set kicked off in Drew’s favor with the Rangers scoring the first point, but the set quickly showed that it would not be an easy game for either team; the Rangers and the Golden Eagles went back and forth in scoring and alternated winning points for much of the set. A big contributor for the Rangers in this first set was Tynoah Ehia (‘26), who made three kills to help boost Drew’s score. St. Joseph’s finally pulled ahead in the latter half, beating the Rangers 25-17 to capture the first set.
The second set proved to be even more of a nailbiter for the audience, with the Rangers putting up a strong fight and leaving a much smaller margin of points between the two teams throughout the set. Drew’s resurgence against the Golden Eagles was largely aided by three kills from Jacob Sledz (‘25) as well as strong assists from C.J. Addeo (‘25) and Omarf Ortega-Reyes (‘24).
Although the Rangers had a strong start, they were unable to hold their composure under the pressure of such a tough match. St. Joseph’s maintained their lead and finished the second set 25-21, giving them a substantial lead over Drew.
Drew’s team seemed to make an increasing number of errors throughout the game, mostly stemming from poor communication on the court. There were several occasions where multiple players attempted to go after the ball at the same time. In some instances this led to a weaker hit, preventing the Rangers from setting up a successful point, and in others it resulted in the players bumping into each other and completely missing the ball.
This disorganization carried over into the third and final set. The Rangers became increasingly frazzled, with some players becoming visibly frustrated, and the plays were much less clean than in the prior sets. The lack of communication was apparent, as the Rangers chased after shots that were hit far off the side of the court and suffered a few more collisions.
Despite their efforts, Drew was ultimately unable to rally and lost to St. Joseph’s 11-25 in this final set. This ended the game with an overall score of 3-0 in St. Joseph’s favor.
The Rangers continued their season by taking on Kean University on Feb. 8; their next upcoming match is a home game against Purchase College on Feb. 13.
Charlotte Wells is a junior majoring in English and French and minoring in humanities.
