Men’s Volleyball Drops Season Opener to Purchase

BROOKLYN, NY – Commencing their third varsity season, the St. Joseph's College men's volleyball team put forth a spirited effort in front of the home crowd, but fell short dropping a 3-0 decision, 25-19, 25-21, 25-14, to Purchase College on Thursday night at Brooklyn Technical High School.

The Bears took a slight early lead in the match, thanks to several Purchase miscues, but the Panthers recovered taking back the lead and holding on to it for the remainder of the set.

In the second set, both teams jockeyed for an advantage remaining tied at 9-9 until Muhammad Ali Bhatti (Brooklyn, NY/James Madison) served up three of his game-high six service aces to give the Bears a three-point lead. St. Joseph's would lead by as many as four, but a Panthers 5-0 run breaking a 16-16 tie proved to be the difference.

Both teams exchanged sideouts throughout the early portion of the final set remaining tied at 8-8, but Purchase pulled away for good with a 10-2 run claiming their first victory of the season.

Senior Mike Modugno and junior Raymond Morales (Brooklyn, NY/Lasalle Academy) led the Bears attack with four kills each. Bhatti handed out 10 assists.  Modugno and Maciej Sadowski (Brooklyn, NY/Cathedral Prep) held down the defense with four digs apiece.

Purchase (1-2, 0-1 Skyline) was led by Kevon Bruce with a match-high eight kills and Bruno Estrada dished out 19 assists. Len Mui had eight digs.

St. Joseph's (0-1, 0-0 HVMAC) returns to the court on Thursday, February 17 for their first road game of the season against Polytechnic Institute of NYU starting at 7 p.m.