Late Rally Comes Up Short For Men's Volleyball, Falling 3-1 to York at Home

BROOKLYN, N.Y.—After dropping the opening two sets of their home tilt against York College (N.Y.), the St. Joseph's College (Brooklyn) men's volleyball team staged a late rally and threatened to force their second straight five-set match to open the season, but fell in four sets, 3-1 (25-17, 25-16, 21-25, 25-23) on Tuesday night at The Hill Center.

Thomas Kennedy (Breezy Point, N.Y./St. Edmund Prep) and junior Taso Kostikas (Brooklyn, N.Y./Midwood) slammed eight kills each to lead the Bears (1-1) attack. Kennedy eight kills were a career-high and the senior also brought up six digs to lead the defense.

Senior Raul Urshela (Orlando, Fla./Colonial) contributed seven kills and four digs, while junior Norrin Martinez (Maspeth, N.Y./Holy Cross) dished out 22 assists on the teams 23 kills on the evening.

Edner Geffrard paced the Cardinals with 11 kills while Anson Webb contributed 10 kills and Randy Adams chipped in nine as the visitors totaled 41 kills.

York (1-6) claimed the opening two sets with relative ease trailing only once as the Bears struggled to find their rhythm offensively compiling a negative hitting percentage.

The Bears finally showed some signs of life in the third and launched a 4-1 run that opened a 16-11 advantage midway through the set. York trimmed the deficit to 22-21 before kills from Kennedy and Urshela brought set point which was sealed by a Thomas Henderson (Brooklyn, N.Y./Bishop Ford) ace that landed on the back line.

The Bears continued to fight throughout the fourth set that saw eight ties and four lead changes. St. Joseph's pulled ahead 15-11 before the Cardinals drew even and inched out to a 20-18 advantage. A 3-1 run knotted the game for the final time at 21-21 before York managed to hold on for the victory.

Despite the loss, the Bears managed to take a set off the Cardinals for the first time in seven meetings.

St. Joseph's takes to the road for the first time this season and faces another CUNYAC opponent in the College of Staten Island on Monday, February 9 at 7 p.m.