Men's Volleyball Sweeps Home Conference Tri-Match

BROOKLYN, N.Y. — The St. Joseph's University, N.Y. (Brooklyn) men's volleyball team hosted a Skyline Conference tri-match on Sunday at The Hill Center, defeating both Yeshiva University and Sarah Lawrence College 3-1.

Alex Helfant (Quito, Ecuador/Alliance Academy International) produced match-highs in kills thanks to 17 against the Maccabees and 20, a new career best, against the Gryphons. He also served up six aces. Compatriot Frank Tello (Quito, Ecuador/Alliance Academy International) had 15 kills in each of the two contests.

How it Happened vs. Yeshiva

Holding a 9-4 lead in the opening set, the Maccabees came back to tie the set at 10-all. YU attack errors pushed the SJBK lead to 16-12 but they managed to nab a 19-17 lead. Following a Bears timeout, seven kills – including two from Tello and Helfant – saved a Yeshiva match point; giving the navy and gray a 27-25 set win.

The Maccabees held the momentum for much of the second set. Trailing 17-14, Tello and Frank Arevalo (Astoria, N.Y./Gramercy Arts) slammed kills to tie the period at 17 before the visitors regained the 20-18 advantage. The Bears concluded the set on a 7-2 run, taking the 25-22 win behind a trio of Tello kills.

The third set was tied at seven before the advantage swung in Yeshiva's favor, leading by as many as 10 and winning the set by the same margin, 25-15.

The Bears fell behind 7-6 in the fourth before they racked up five unanswered points to lead 11-7. Yeshiva countered with an 8-0 run to lead 15-11. SJBK notched eight of the following 11 points, with Helfant recording six kills, to lead 19-18, holding on to win the set 25-21 and the match 3-1.

How it Happened vs. Sarah Lawrence

Oliveros opened the match with a pair of service aces, as part of a 5-1 start for the Bears. The Gryphons managed to bring their deficit down to one, 11-10. Despite the visitors tying the set up on a few occasions, the Bears weathered the storm. Sarah Lawrence used a three-point stretch at 22-20 to take the lead but, following an SJBK timeout, kills from Lordnel Saint-Jean (Brooklyn, N.Y./St. Edmund Prep) and Tello saw the Bears claim the first set, 25-23.

With the second stanza tied at 11-all, SLC used a 9-1 run to lead 19-13, possessing the advantage for good in the set en route to a 25-19 win.

The Bears led for nearly the entirety of the third set, leading by as many as 14-7 midway through the period. Helfant and Tello each logged three kills in the period to propel the navy and gray to a 25-17 set victory.

Helfant and Saint-Jean picked up kills to begin the fourth set with a 7-1 lead.Three-straight kills from Tello later in the set brought the SJBK advantage to 13-5. However, Sarah Lawrence inched their way back, cutting their deficit to 21-20 and ultimately saving three Bears match points. During the back-and-forth stretch, the Bears saw kills from Tello, Arevalo, and Helfant; with the latter getting the go-ahead point at 30-29. An attack error clinched the prolonged set for St. Joseph's 31-29 and the match 3-1.

For the Bears vs. Yeshiva

• Helfant brought up 17 digs. His six service aces are a single-match career-high.

• Tello's 15 kills are a season-best, matching it against Sarah Lawrence.

• Arevalo hit at a .222 rate, slamming 11 kills and brought up four digs.

• Oliveros' 41 assists are a personal best for the graduate student. He was a pair of dimes shy of matching the single-match record for assists in a four-set match.

• Leonel Bravo (Astoria, N.Y./Queens Vocational & Technical) brought up a team-high 19 digs.

For the Bears vs. Sarah Lawrence

• Helfant's 20 kills and digs marked new career highs. They're also tied for third most in the single-game this season in the conference.

• Bravo's 32 digs are a career-high and a single-game high in the Skyline. He also had three assists.

• Oliveros finished with 34 assists and 11 digs. He served up four aces with Jahin Sadique (New York, N.Y./High School for Dual Language and Asian Studies) right behind him with three.

• Tello hit at a .256 clip thanks to his 15 kills.

Up Next

The Bears are back in action on Saturday, March 18 at the Purchase College Tri-Match. SJBK opens up at noon against New Jersey City University followed by their meeting with the host Panthers at 2 p.m. Live stats and video will be available on sjbkathletics.com/live.