Men’s Volleyball Sweeps Season Series with Mount Saint Vincent; Splits Skyline Tri-Match

BRONXVILLE, N.Y. — Riding a three-game win streak, the St. Joseph's College (Brooklyn) men's volleyball team (5-16, 4-3 Skyline) battled Sarah Lawrence College (3-14, 2-4 Skyline) and the College of Mount Saint Vincent (2-13, 0-4 Skyline) in a Skyline Conference tri-match hosted by the Gryphons on Sunday.

The Bears dropped the first match against Sarah Lawrence, falling in four sets, but turned things around against the Dolphins sweeping the season series with a 3-0 win to go above .500 in Skyline play.

How It Happened vs. Sarah Lawrence
Tim Driscoll (Staten Island, N.Y./St. Peter's) slammed a kill as the Bears clung to a slim lead (11-9) in the opening frame. Another SJC kill, this time from Rogers Hatanga Kwiringira (Corona N.Y./Greater New York Academy), later pushed the lead to 15-12. The Gryphons hung around though, using four unanswered points to retake the lead and they didn't look back winning the first 25-20.

The Gryphons began the second on a 5-0 run and didn't give up the lead until Sean Salomons (Staten Island, N.Y./St. Peter's) notched a kill to tie things up at 15. Sarah Lawrence went on to close the set with a 9-4 spurt for another 25-20 win and a 2-0 overall advantage.

St. Joseph's trailed once again to start the third until a Dejon St. Rose-Cuffy (Brooklyn, N.Y./Bishop Loughlin) kill sparked a 15-3 rally for a commanding 23-12 lead as they won the third 25-15 to stay alive.

Sarah Lawrence controlled most of the fourth set, establishing an 18-11 edge after a kill from Callan Moor. The Bears used 6-1 run to make it close, but SLC answered with a 6-1 stretch of their own to win 25-18 and secure their first Skyline win of the season.

How It Happened vs. Mount Saint Vincent
Four Dolphin errors to open the match gave SJC an early lead and a Driscoll kill later put them ahead by six (10-4). After a 4-0 stretch from CMSV, the Bears went on an 8-2 run to build an 18-10 lead and held on to win 25-19 as four different players had a kill in their final five points.

Mount Saint Vincent looked to tie the match in the second as Jose Estrella ripped a kill for a 13-11 advantage. Back-to-back aces from Driscoll put the Bears back in the lead at 18-17 and they closed to second with an 8-2 rally for a 25-20 victory.

The third was tightly contested as well with Driscoll firing a kill to tie the score at 11. St. Rose-Cuffy added a kill off a pass from Juan Herran Ocampo (Armenia, Colombia/Manhattan Comprehensive Night and Day) giving the Bears an 18-14 advantage. They closed the period on a 7-2 run for another strong finish to complete the sweep with a 25-17 triumph.

For the Bears

• Driscoll finished with 25 digs, 18 kills, and three aces on the day while Salomons had a match-high tying 14 kills (three blocks) against SLC and eight versus the Dolphins.
• Stephen Eddy (Glendale, N.Y./Christ the King) posted eight kills and 10 digs in the first match and St.-Rose-Cuffy put up nine kills in the win.
• Kwiringira had 14 kills in each match and Ocampo brought up 10 digs in the first contest.
• Timothy Boyd (Staten Island, N.Y./St. Peter's) notched a 26-assist, 11-dig double-double against CMSV while dishing out 23 assists versus the Gryphons.

Next Up for the Bears
Senior Night on Tuesday (Apr. 2) at The Hill Center hosting Purchase College with first serve set for 7 p.m. and live stats and video streaming at SJCBears.com.