Men's Volleyball Gameday: Bears at Purchase

BROOKLYN, N.Y. – St. Joseph's (3-5) looks to pick up their fourth win of the season, travelling to Skyline Conference opponent Purchase College (4-8) for a 7 p.m. first serve.

Game Information

St. Joseph's College (Brooklyn) (3-5, 1-1 HVIAC) at Purchase College (4-8, 2-5 Skyline)

Thursday, March 13th • 7 p.m.
Purchase, N.Y.

Storylines

• The Bears look to win their fourth match in a season in the fewest amount of matches in school history.
• St. Joseph's tries to move over .500 in true road games this season, coming into tonight's match with a 3-3 mark.
• With a win tonight the Bears would pick up their first ever win over Purchase, having lost the four previous meetings against the Panthers dating back to 2009.
• This week's HVIAC Player of the Week Raul Urshela looks to continue his strong play after recording double-digit kills in the last four matches.

Series History

Purchase holds a 4-0 lead in the all-time series dating back to March 27, 2009 and took the schools' prior meeting in four sets back on March 12, 2012.

The Bear Facts

Last Time Out: Raul Urshela slammed down 36 kills as St. Joseph's split a HVIAC tri-match at Sarah Lawrence College on Sunday, defeating Sarah Lawrence in a thrilling five-set match, 3-2 (25-16, 25-22, 15-25, 17-25, 15-10) before falling to Yeshiva University, 3-1 (25-23, 7-25, 14-25, 15-25) in their second match of the day.

St. Joseph's is off to their best start in school history at 3-5 and look to pick up their fourth victory in a season in the fewest amount of games in the program's history with a triumph over the Panthers. The Bears have used the serve to their advantage, averaging 1.61 aces per set (No. 17 in Division III) on the season.

Three-time HVIAC Player of the Week Raul Urshela leads the way for St. Joseph's on the offensive end with 103 kills for a 3.68 kills per set average (No. 18 in Division III). The junior also has 44 digs and 10 blocks on the season and leads the Bears with a .185 hitting percentage. Urshela is coming off a 14-kill performance versus Yeshiva that saw him pass assistant coach Martin Torres for most kills (447) in school history.

Helping orchestrate the offense is senior setter Iqbal Husain who has 153 assists on the year and averages 5.46 assists per set. Husain also is tied with Urshela for second on the team with 44 digs and has five blocks on the year.

Sophomore Taso Kostikas provides another offensive force for St. Joseph's with 36 kills and leads the team with 2.82 digs (No. 16 in Division III) and 0.46 service aces per set (No. 23 in Division III).

Panther Prowlings

Last Time Out: Purchase fell in straight sets, 3-0 (18-25, 11-25, 23-25) to the College of Mount Saint Vincent on March 4th. The Panthers were led by freshman Kevin Carges who finished with a team-high eight kills.

Purchase, picked to finish tied for last in the Skyline, comes into tonight's match having lost six of their last eight matches after beginning the season 2-2. The Panthers lead Division III with 14.38 digs per set and excel in the service game, averaging 1.90 aces per set (No. 7 in Division III).

Pacing Purchase on the offensive side is one-time Skyline Rookie of the Week Kevin Carges who leads the team with 3.52 kills per set (No. 23 in Division III) and has 148 total kills on the season. The freshman also averages 0.76 service aces per set (No. 2 in Division III) and 3.07 digs per set (No. 9 in Division III).

Helping out on the defensive end is Kevon Kareem Bruce who averages 3.26 digs per set (No. 5 in Division III) and also contributes 3.48 kills per set (No. 26 in Division III).

Team Comparison

Bears	Nickname	Panthers
3-5 (1-1)	Record	4-8 (2-5)
HVIAC	Conference	Skyline
Roster | Schedule | Statistics	Team Info	Roster | Schedule | Statistics
Raul Urshela (103)	Top Kills	Kevin Carges (148)
Taso Kostikas (79)	Top Digs	Kevon Kareem Bruce (147)
Iqbal Husain (153)	Top Assist	Andrew Schwab (233)
6.89	Kills	9.14
.066	Attack %	.140
6.07	Assists	8.31
1.61	Service Aces	1.90
68	Reception Errors	60
9.11	Digs	14.62
0.95	Blocks	1.55