Bears Drop HVMAC Decision To Cooper Union

BROOKLYN, NY – St. Joseph's men's volleyball team came out with a spirited effort Monday night, but it wasn't enough to overcome HVMAC foe, Cooper Union. The Bears fell in straight sets – 25-12, 25-9, 25-21.

The Bears hung tight in the first set, keeping the set within five points in the early going. The Hawks went on a strong stretch and closed the set on an 11-3 run.

Cooper Union kept that run going in the second set, easily taking it 25-9. The Bears came out firing in the third set and jumped out to an 8-6 lead. The Hawks took the lead back, but the Bears responded, tying the game at 15-15. A kill from Martin Torres (Ozone Park, NY/St. Francis Prep) brought the Bears to within one point at 21-20, but Cooper Union killed the comeback attempt, scoring the last four points to win the set 25-20.

Torres led the Bears with a season-best six kills, three coming in the final set. Muhammad Ali Bhatti (Brooklyn, NY/James Madison) chipped in with four kills and had a game-high eight digs. Iqbal Husain (West Palm Beach, FL/Palm Beach Gardens) dished out a team best 12 assists to tie his season-high and added seven digs also tying a season best.

The Hawks were led by Andrew Tam and Sasha Kuznetsov who had 12 and ten digs, respectively. Max King had a game-high 17 assists and added six kills, while Jason Shin dished out 13 assists.

St. Joseph's is back in action on Tuesday, March 22 to take on City Tech. The penultimate home match at Brooklyn Technical High School is set to start at 7:00 pm.