New York, NY - The defending CUNYAC women's volleyball champions, the John Jay Bloodhounds (14-3; 4-0 CUNYAC), strengthened 2its hold atop the conference standings on Thursday night with a 3-1 victory over the Baruch College Bearcats (5-12; 3-1 CUNYAC) inside the Doghouse.
 
John Jay now stands alone in first place as the only unbeaten team in league play. Sophomore Jadyn Orava continued her dominant play, posting a match-high 19 kills while adding six aces and 10 digs. Emilia Cascapera contributed 12 kills on a .333 hitting percentage. Setter Adrienne Xiao orchestrated the attack with 37 assists while libero Lizbeth Martinez had a team-high 12 digs.
 
As a team, John Jay out-hit Baruch .184 to .120, finishing with 49 kills, 43 assists, and 14 service aces.
 
For the visiting Bearcats, they were led by Karolina Lundqvist, who tallied 10 kills, and Alicia Graves, who notched eight blocks to lead the defensive front. Olivia Mills had 16 digs.
 
The Bloodhounds opened up the first set on a 5-0 run, with two aces from Madison Mullan. A kill from Cascapera doubled the John Jay lead to 10-5. The Bearcats responded with a 5-1 run that cut the deficit down to 11-10. John Jay took a 17-13 lead following another kill from Cascapera. From there, Baruch utilized a 9-4 run to take a 22-21 lead.The Bloodhounds killed the rally from Orava, and a miss hit from Tartour gave John Jay the set.
 
In the second set, the two teams traded points before Baruch took a three-point lead, 18-15, after a kill from Jennifer Dong. The Bearcats evened the set at 1-1 following a kill from Tartour.
 
John Jay seized control of the third set with Orava holding serve and giving the Bloodhounds a 7-3 lead. The two clubs exchanged points before John Jay concluded the set on a 12-4 run, capped by a Mullan kill.
 
Baruch took a 5-3 lead in the fourth set before a 7-1 run pushed John Jay ahead 10-6. Baruch claimed a 12-11 lead before the Bloodhounds responded again, using a 7-3 spurt to go ahead 18-15. The Bloodhounds closed out the match with a 4-1 burst, capped by Orava's final kill of the game.
 
John Jay will look to go 5-0 in league on Thursday, October 23, as they will host Brooklyn at 7:00 p.m.