Bears Volleyball Falls to Cooper Union on Senior Night

BROOKLYN, N.Y. – The St. Joseph's College (Brooklyn) men's volleyball team celebrated Senior Night and closed out their home slate at Brooklyn Technical High School falling to Cooper Union in straight sets (25-16, 25-16, 25-13) on Wednesday night. 

The Bears (3-13) finish their home schedule with a 3-5 record while the Hawks (4-4) return to .500 with a sweep of the season series.

Senior Martin Torres (Ozone Park, NY/ St. Francis Prep) was honored after the game for his dedication to the men's volleyball program, which only began varsity play five years ago. Torres, the team's only senior, was incredibly busy on Wednesday night with 29 total attacks amounting to six kills.

Also tallying six kills for the Bears was sophomore Raul Urshela (Orlando,FL/Colonial), who did his best to thwart the Cooper Union attack by adding eight digs. Junior setter Iqbal Husain (West Palm Beach, FL/ Palm Beach Gardens) compiled 14 assists and five digs in the loss.

The first set of the evening was highly contested until a 9-0 run served by Hawks senior Andrew Tam gave Cooper Union a 22-10 lead. The teams traded points before Cooper Union captain Eric Kim sealed the win with one of his four kills on the night.

The Bears came out fighting in the second set, led by an inspired effort from Torres. With the game knotted at 13, St. Joseph's conceded another run led by Tam's service, opening up an 18-13 lead for the Hawks. The Bears were not able to cut into that deficit and proceeded to drop game two 25-16.

In the final game of the night, the Bears struggled from the outset, allowing Cooper Union to jump out to an 11-1 lead. The Hawks were able to maintain the lead throughout cruising to a 25-13 final score.

The Bears are back in action for the third straight night as they take on HVMAC rival Webb Institute on Thursday, April 4th at 7:30 p.m.  St. Joseph's defeated Webb in straight-sets back in March at Brooklyn Tech and will try for the season sweep on the road.