Comeback Kids! Men's Volleyball Stuns Webb Coming Back from Two-Set Hole to Win in Five On The Road

GLEN COVE, N.Y.—For the second time this season, the St. Joseph's College (Brooklyn) men's volleyball team came back from a two-set deficit, upending Webb Institute, 3-2 (17-25, 22-25, 25-11, 25-12, 15-13) in Hudson Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Conference play on Thursday night at Webb.

St. Joseph's (8-5, 2-1 HVIAC) snapped a two-game skid with the victory and matched their program record for wins in a season with eight, set last season. The Bears have had a flair for the dramatic, going the distance in five matches this season, posting a 4-1 mark in five-set affairs. St. Joseph's also moved to 8-7 in the all-time series against their most faced opponent.

When the teams last met in Glen Cove last season, the Bears also rallied from a two-set hole to win in five. The Webbies (0-2, 0-2 HVIAC) seemed poised to win their first match of the season seizing the first two sets before the Bears stormed back to take sets three and four in convincing fashion.

In the fifth-and-deciding set, the Bears took pulled ahead by as many as three but led by just one at the changeover, 8-7, before two straight points gave Webb their first lead of the set, 9-8 and pulled ahead to a 12-10 lead prompting a Bears timeout. Out of the break, the Bears closed the match winning five of the final six points. Thomas Kennedy (Breezy Point, N.Y./St. Edmund Prep) slammed two kills and Norrin Martinez (Maspeth, N.Y./Holy Cross) served an ace to give the Bears a 13-12 lead. A Webb kill knotted the game at 13-all, before Raul Urshela (Orlando, Fla./Colonial) and Taso Kostikas (Brooklyn, N.Y./Midwood) pounded back-to-back kills to seal the victory.

Kostikas finished with a career-high 17 kills to lead the Bears attack. Urshela added 15 kills and stuffed nine blocks (seven solo) and Kennedy contributed six kills. Martinez handed out 38 assists and served three aces.

St. Joseph's returns to action this Saturday for a tri-match against at John Jay College facing the Bloodhounds at 11 a.m. followed by York College at 1 p.m.