Men's Volleyball Pushes Yeshiva to Four in Skyline Opener With NJCU

BROOKLYN, N.Y. — Senior Thomas Kennedy (Breezy Point, N.Y./St. Edmund Prep) led the way with 26 kills on the afternoon, but the St. Joseph's College (Brooklyn) men's volleyball team dropped both ends of their Skyline Conference debut against Yeshiva University and New Jersey City University on Sunday afternoon. Kennedy recorded a 17-kill, 11-dig double-double in the opener as SJC pushed Yeshiva to four sets.

The Basics

• Final Score (Match 1): Yeshiva 3, St. Joseph's 1
• Set Scores: 25-23, 25-22, 17-25, 25-19
• Final Score (Match 2): New Jersey City 3, St. Joseph's 0
• Set Scores: 25-20, 25-17, 25-16
• Records: New Jersey City (7-4, 3-0 Skyline), Yeshiva (1-6, 1-2 Skyline), St. Joseph's (1-2, 0-1 Skyline)
• Date: February 14, 2016
• Location: Brooklyn, N.Y.
• Arena: The Hill Center

How it Happened vs. Yeshiva

• Momentum swayed often in a tight first set that saw six lead changes and six ties.
• Clyde Delacruz's kill had the Bears up 16-12 midway through the set, but the Maccabees rallied off eight straight points and then fought off St. Joseph's for a 25-23 win.
• The Bears regrouped with six unanswered to open the second set, including a pair of service aces from Alex Smalley, but Yeshiva answered again with a 5-0 run to keep St. Joseph's close.
• Trailing 23-16 in the second, Delacruz's kill powered a string of five straight points as the Bears fought to avoid a 2-0 deficit. But Matthew Klein's kill gave the Maccabees a 25-22 set victory and a commanding lead the in match.
• In the third, Thomas Kennedy slammed a pair of aces and recorded one kill to help orchestrate six unanswered, giving St. Joseph's an early 7-1 advantage.
• Yeshiva chipped away and drew within 14-12 as they looked to clinch the match, but the Bears led wire to wire in a 25-17 third set triumph.
• The Maccabees never trailed in the fourth set. St. Joseph's drew within 8-7 in the early going, but Yeshiva's six unanswered in the middle of the set gave them a commanding 19-9 advantage and propelled them to a 3-1 match victory.

How it Happened vs. NJCU

• The Bears played a hard-fought opening set and trailed by three, 18-15, after a Kennedy ace, but the Gothic Knights finished the frame with an efficient .538 hitting (17-3-26) and scored four unanswered to control the set.
• Kennedy pounded a set-high five kills in the second stanza to keep the Bears within reach once again, but a 5-0 spurt gave the visitors a 16-9 lead and SJC couldn't close the gap.
• New Jersey City raced out to an 8-0 lead in the final frame, off four aces from Erick Nascimento and maintained their distance the rest of the way to improve to 3-0 in league play after also sweeping the second match of the day vs. Yeshiva.

For the Bears

• Thomas Kennedy totaled team highs of 26 kills and 16 digs on the afternoon to lead the Bears. His 17 kills vs. Yeshiva matched his career-high and along with 11 digs recorded his first-double-double of the season.
• Senior Norrin Martinez set up the offense with 46 assists on top of three aces and one kill.
• Sophomore Alex Smalley chipped in nine kills and helped anchor the defense with 14 digs, posting a career-best nine digs vs. Yeshiva.
• Senior Clyde Delacruz slammed 12 kills, hitting .214 and stuffed nine blocks (four solo) on the day. His six blocks in the opener matched his career high, also against Yeshiva, two seasons ago.

For the Maccabees vs. SJC

• Jonathan Goldstein pounded the Bear defense with 27 aces and no service errors, also contributing 10 digs on defense.
• Michael Klein contributed a team-high 11 kills to Yeshiva's attack, finishing with a .160 hitting percentage and 11 digs for the double-double.
• Avraham Kohanzadeh cemented the defense with a match-high 20 digs.

For the Gothic Knights vs. SJC

• Sheldon Coure lead all attackers with 10 kills with a .533 hitting.
• Ivan Prensa added nine kills and Kendalll Tribbett contributed eight kills.
• Erick Nascimento dished out 27 assists and landed four aces.

Inside the Box Score vs. Yeshiva

• The Bears matched their season high landing 13 aces, but were also plagued by 14 service errors.
• St. Joseph's hit at a .030-percent rate compared to Yeshiva's .150 percentage.
• The Bears (37-33-134) matched their opponents (37-21-107) kill output, but were hindered by 12 more errors.

Inside the Box Score vs. NJCU

• The visitors hit an efficient .371 (38-12-70) as a team while the Bears improved from their opening match of the day hitting .151 (18-10-53).

The Bear Facts

• St. Joseph's drops their Skyline Conference debut after splitting the first two matches of the season.
• The Bears' former HVIAC rivals Yeshiva remains unbeaten against the Bears, improving to a perfect 17-0 in the all-time series.
• It was the first ever meeting against NJCU.

Next Up for St. Joseph's 

The Bears will play their first road match of the season facing the College of Staten Island on Tuesday, February 16 in a non-conference tilt starting at 7 p.m. Video will be available on SJCBears.com