Men’s Volleyball Takes Five-Setter from Purchase, Splits Saturday Tri-Match

PURCHASE, N.Y. — The St. Joseph's University, N.Y. (Brooklyn) men's volleyball team was pushed to their first five-set match this season, earning a 3-2 (21-25, 25-16, 25-18, 11-25, 15-12) win over Purchase College on Saturday afternoon. The match was the Bears' second of their Skyline Conference tri-match. Earlier in the day, New Jersey City University took the straight-set win (8-25, 12-25, 14-25).

How it Happened vs. NJCU

The Bears held a brief 2-1 lead before the Gothic Knights began to take control of the set. SJBK came within a point, 5-4, on an Alejandro Oliveros (Brooklyn, N.Y./Grover Cleveland) but NJCU ran the table in the set, winning 25-8.

Frank Tello (Quito, Ecuador/Alliance Academy International) began the second set with a kill as part of an early 3-2 lead for the Bears. Three straight points for New Jersey City gave them an irreversible lead, 5-3. They used a 6-0 run midway through the set en route to a 13-point cushion in the set, 25-12.

The Bears once again started a set with a short-term lead but five-straight points swung the advantage to the Gothic Knights. Down 12-5, the Bears picked up four points to trim the deficit to three, 12-9. However, another 6-0 run following the three-point margain led to the Gothic Knights' 25-14 set victory and their straight-set win.

How it Happened vs. Purchase

The first two sets featured a combined 21 ties and nine lead changes. Alex Helfant's (Quito, Ecuador/Alliance Academy International) four kills in the opening set wasn't enough to give the Bears full control of the set as the Panthers claimed the period 25-21.

Trading the advantage for much of the period, St. Joseph's took 11 of the final 13 points, including a 5-0 to close the stanza with a 25-16 triumph. Helfant led the attack with eight kills with Oliveros providing all eight assists.

A 10-0 run brought the Bears from down 13-9 to leading 19-13 and coasting to the set win 25-18. The tandem of Helfant and Tello combined for 10 kills, three more than the Panthers tallied as a team.

Purchase's 11 kills in the fourth set guided them to a 25-11 win to force a decisive fifth set.

Despite the Panthers holding the lead for much of the closing period, the Bears remained within striking distance. Down 12-9, a 6-0 run, capped off by a pair of blocks from sophomore Levin Ma (Brooklyn, N.Y./Port Richmond) sealed the Bears' 15-12 triumph, their first five-set victory of the season.

For the Bears vs. NJCU

• Tello and Helfant each had three kills.

• Helfant and Oliveros brought up five digs. Leonel Bravo (Astoria, N.Y./Queens Vocational & Technical) had four kills.

• Oliveros finished with six assists.

For the Bears vs. Purchase

• Helfant logged a double-double of 24 kills and 20 digs.

• Tello finished with 12 digs and as many kills.

• Lordnel Saint-Jean (Brooklyn, N.Y./St. Edmund Prep) finished with a season-high 16 digs and four kills.

• Oliveros' 41 assists matched the career-high he set last week.

• Jahin Sadique (New York, N.Y./High School for Dual Language and Asian Studies) logged 13 digs.

• Frank Arevalo (Astoria, N.Y./Gramercy Arts) finished with six kills.

Up Next

The Bears begin a three-match week on Tuesday, March 21 against Sarah Lawrence College in Bronxville, N.Y. First serve is scheduled for 7 p.m. with live stats and video available on sjbkathletics.com/live.