Release courtesy of Yeshiva Athletics
NEW YORK, N.Y.— The Yeshiva men's volleyball team closed out its 2015 regular season schedule on Tuesday evening with a 3-1 win (25-18, 12-25, 25-17, 26-24) over St. Joseph's-Brooklyn in a Hudson Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (HVIAC) battle at the Max Stern Athletic Center.
Yeshiva ends its regular season with a 7-17 overall record and a 4-2 showing in the HVIAC. St. Joseph's-Brooklyn drops to 8-9 overall and 2-3 in the HVIAC. With the win, the Maccabees will be no worse than the No. 2 seed for the HVIAC men's volleyball championship on Wednesday April 15. Yeshiva will face either St. Joseph's-Brooklyn or Webb Institute in the semifinal round at 6 p.m. A win by the Maccabees will put them in the championship game against the winner of the other 6 p.m. semifinal round match at 8 p.m. at the Max Stern Athletic Center
In Tuesday's win, the Maccabees were led by Eliakim Gartenberg and Joseph Lipton with 11 kills each. Lipton added 10 digs, a service ace and a block, while Gartenberg had two total blocks. Benjamin Mannadded 10 kills, 10 digs and four service aces for the Maccabees, while Kolya Miller had eight kills, five digs and a block. Mishael Miller had a game-high 19 digs for Yeshiva.
St. Joseph's-Brooklyn was led by Raul Urshela with 17 kills and 10 digs.
The first three sets never saw a lead change and just two ties. In set one, the Maccabees broke a 1-1 tie with a four point rally to take a 5-1 lead. Then with the score 5-2, Yeshiva scored five more times to take a 10-2 lead and the Maccabees coasted to the win in the first set.
In the second set, the visiting Bears broke open a close match with nine straight points to turn a 10-9 lead into a 19-9 advantage and go on to victory.
In the third set, Yeshiva led most of the way. The only tie came when St. Joseph's-Brooklyn knotted the score at 14-14. But the Maccabees scored four in a row to lead 18-14. Then, while up 20-17, Yeshiva scored the final five points to win the set and take a two set to one lead.
In the fourth set, the score was tied 11 times and the lead changed hands on three occasions. The largest lead by either team was three points, and both teams led by that margin once during the set. St. Joseph's-Brooklyn led 5-2 led early on, while Yeshiva, while down 21-20, scored four in a row to lead 24-21. But the Bears answered with three in a row to make the score 24-24, before a kill by Mann, followed by a bad set by St. Joseph's-Brooklyn secured the win for the Maccabees.
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Release courtesy of St. Joseph's Athletics
NEW YORK—Despite four Bears recording double-double efforts, the St. Joseph's College (Brooklyn) men's volleyball team suffered a four-set loss at Yeshiva, 25-18, 12-25, 25-17, 26-24, in Hudson Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Conference action at the Max Stern Athletic Center on Tuesday night.
The loss eliminates the Bears (8-9, 2-3 HVIAC) from contention for the HVIAC regular season title and drops the Bears below .500 for just the second time all season. The two-time defending champion Maccabees (7-17, 4-2 HVIAC) wrap up their regular season with a share of first place with the regular season title likely decided by tiebreaker rules with two league games remaining.
Like the earlier meeting at The Hill Center two weeks ago that went to five sets, four tallied double-doubles led by senior Raul Urshela's (Orlando, Fla./Colonial) 17 kills, 10 digs and two blocks. Junior Norrin Martinez (Maspeth, N.Y./Holy Cross) dished out 33 assists for his game with 30-or-more assists and dug up a career- and team-high 18 digs for his sixth double-double of the season.
Juniors Thomas Kennedy (Breezy Point, N.Y./St. Edmund Prep) and Taso Kostikas (Brooklyn, N.Y./Midwood) both slammed 11 kills each, Kennedy bringing up 17 digs for his fourth double-double and Kostikas with 15 digs for his team-high-tying sixth double-double.
Eliakim Gartenberg and Joseph Lipton each pounded 11 kills to lead a balanced Yeshiva attack that combined for 45 kills. Benjamin Mann contributed 10 kills rounding three Maccabees in double-figure kills and Jorge Dabah handed out 37 assists.
Unlike the earlier matchup that featured 37 ties and 19 lead changes, the squad that took control from the outset would not relinquish the lead with the hosts winning sets one and three and the Bears dominating in set two running away with a 25-12 set win.
The fourth set was neck-and-neck with 11 ties and neither team able to build more than a three-point advantage. With the Bears pulling away to a 20-18 lead looking to force another five-set match, the Maccabees used a 6-1 run to earn three match points. St. Joseph's fought off all three match points but couldn't complete the comeback with a Mann kill and a Bears miscue ending the match.
St. Joseph's will play their final non-conference game on Thursday, April 2 at former HVIAC foe and future Skyline Conference rival Sarah Lawrence College looking to stop a four-game skid and return to the .500 mark. First serve is at 7 p.m. with live stats and video on SJCBears.com.
