Men’s Volleyball Sweeps Medgar Evers For Second Straight Win

BROOKLYN, N.Y. – Behind a pair of double-digit kill performances from Raul Urshela (Orlando, FL/Colonial) and Martin Torres (Ozone Park, NY/St. Francis Prep), the St. Joseph's College (Brooklyn) men's volleyball team defeated Brooklyn rivals Medgar Evers 3-0 (25-14, 25-23, 25-20) on Monday evening at Brooklyn Technical High School.

The Bears (2-5) notch their second straight victory and remain undefeated at home, taking their third-straight win over the Cougars (0-3), closing the gap in the all-time series to 4-6.

Urshela led the attack putting down 12 kills and landing four aces, both match highs. Torres pounded 11 kills with a match-best .400 hitting percentage and had three blocks. Iqbal Husain (West Palm Beach, FL/Palm Beach Gardens) dished out 22 assists and brought up seven digs.

Turning Points

The Bears never trailed in the opening set and used an early 6-1 run powered by three-straight Urshela aces to pull away for good.

With the Bears trailing 20-19 in a highly contested second set, Torres recorded four kills during a 5-0 run, that gave the Bears four set points.

The final set went back-and-forth until a 13-13 tie and St. Joseph's won five straight points – two coming off a pair of Norrin Martinez (Maspeth, NY/Holy Cross) aces – and never trailed.

Inside the Box Score

• The match featured 24 ties and 11 lead changes.
• Urshela recorded his fourth match this season with double-digit kills and in the two wins has hit .370 with 22 kills.
• Torres registered 10 of his 11 kills in the final two sets (set-high 6 in set 2), recording his second match with double-digit kills.
• Five Bears combined to land a season-best 14 aces (Urshela 4, Husain 3, Martinez 3, Torres 2, Taso Kostikas 2)
• No player on either squad finished with more than eight digs.

Next Up for the Bears

St. Joseph's concludes a three-game stretch at home welcoming Cooper Union to Brooklyn Technical High School on Friday, March 8 with first serve set for 7:30 p.m.