Bears Volleyball Triumphant in Season Opener

BROOKLYN, NY – The St. Joseph's College (Brooklyn) men's volleyball team was victorious in their 2012 season opener, defeating Medgar Evers College, 3-1 (25-13, 19-25, 25-15, 25-22) on the road on Thursday evening.

It was the first win for the Bears in nearly two full years, dating back to February 19, 2010 – a straight-set triumph over Albertus Magnus College.  The win also comes in the head coaching debut for Kristin Wulff, taking over the reins after serving as assistant coach for the past two seasons.  It is also the first time in program history the team has held a winning record.

St. Joseph's (1-0) was led by junior Martin Torres (Ozone Park, NY/St. Francis Prep) and freshman Raul Urshela (Orlando, FL/Colonial), each putting away eight kills and Urshela falling two digs shy of a double-double.  Senior Muhammad Ali Bhatti (Brooklyn, NY/James Madison) brought up a game-high 12 digs to anchor the defense and was the leading point scorer, serving up a match-high nine aces and adding four kills.  Sophomore Iqbal Husain (West Palm Beach, FL/Palm Beach Gardens) dished out 14 assists.

Medgar Evers (0-4) was paced by Jamal Baptiste who registered a match-high 21 kills and Lancedale Calderon handed out a match-high 27 assists.  

The Bears started out fast out of the gates producing 12 kills at a blistering .524 attacking percentage to take the opening set 25-13.  Medgar leveled the match in the second set, the Cougar offense coming alive for 11 kills.  St. Joseph's managed to come away with the final two sets for the victory, despite the Cougars producing more kills (17-10) but also committing more attack errors (14-8).

St. Joseph's returns to action on Saturday, February 11, in their home opener at Brooklyn Technical High School.  The Bears host Albertus Magnus College at noon in the first game of their tri-match followed by Brooklyn College at 4 p.m.