Men's Volleyball Seeks First Conference Title Concluding Season at HVIAC Tournament

BROOKLYN, N.Y. — The St. Joseph's College (Brooklyn) men's volleyball team (10-9, 3-3 HVIAC) will close out their most succesful season in program history seeking their first conference title, after finishing as runner-up last season. Entering as the No. 3 seed, the Bears will face Clinton Hill rivals No. 2 Pratt Institute in the semifinal round. Tournament host and three-time champion No. 1 Yeshiva University will face No. 4 Webb Institute in the other semifinal.

Game Information

2015 HVIAC Men's Volleyball Tournament
Date/Time: Wednesday, April 15 
Location: Max Stern Athletic Center • Yeshiva University 
Tournament Central 

Semifinals at 6 pm

Opponent: No. 2 Pratt Institute (7-5, 4-2 HVIAC)
Coverage: Live Stats 

Championship at 8 pm

Opponent: No. 1 Yeshiva University (7-17, 4-2 HVIAC) or No. 4 Webb Institute (1-5, 1-5 HVIAC)
Coverage: Live Stats

Quick Links

No. 1 Yeshiva: Roster | Schedule | Statistics
No. 2 Pratt: Roster | Schedule | Statistics
No. 3 St. Joseph's (Bklyn): Roster | Schedule | Statistics
No. 4 Webb: Schedule | Statistics

HVIAC: Standings | Statistics

Series History

vs. Yeshiva: Maccabees lead 16-0
vs. Pratt: Series tied 1-1
vs. Webb: Bears lead 9-7, winning last nine matches 

2015 Regular Season Meetings

vs. Yeshiva: (3/17 at SJC) Yeshiva won, 3-2 | (3/31 at YU) Yeshiva won, 3-1
vs. Pratt: (2/26 at Pratt) Bears won, 3-2 | (3/26 at SJC) Pratt won, 3-1
vs. Webb: (3/19 at Webb) Bears won, 3-2 | (4/7 at SJC) Bears won, 3-0

The Bear Facts

• The Bears enter the HVIAC Tournament on a two-game win streak after closing out the regular season with a straight-set victory over Webb just over a week ago
• The victory pushed the Bears to the 10-win mark for the first time in program history and guaranteed the first .500-or-better season in program history.
• Three-of-six regular season HVIAC contests went the distance to five sets with only one decided in straight sets.
• The Bears advanced to the HVIAC Championship for the first time in program history last year, falling to three-time champion Yeshiva University
• This will be the Bears final HVIAC Tournament, joining the Skyline Conference next season.
• Senior Raul Urshela was named the HVIAC Player of the Week on Tuesday for the league-high-tying fourth time this season and Bears-record 11th time in his career. He enters the tournament as the league leader in blocks (1.19/set) and ranked second in in kills (4.15/set) and attack percentage (.290).  
• Urshela wraps up his illustrious career tonight as the all-time Bears leader in kills (825), kills per set (3.02), attack attempts (2341), solo blocks (97), block assists (87), total blocks (184), blocks per set (0.67), points (1051.5), points per set (3.85), sets played (273) and matches played (78).
• Juniors Taso Kostikas and Thomas Kennedy round out the attack sitting fourth and fifth in the conference with 2.50 and 2.46 kills per set, respectively.
• Junior Norrin Martinez distributes 8.12 assists per set (2nd in HVIAC) directing the Bears offense to a league best .156 hitting percentage. The junior also wields a heavy serve landing a league-high 0.54 service aces per set.
• Senior middle Clyde Delacuz will look to make an impact after missing nearly the entire season after an injury in the season opener, but returning in the regular season finale and slamming six kills on eight swings in the sweep of Webb.