Men's Volleyball Sweeps Purchase and NJCU in Conference Opener on Saturday Afternoon

Written by Joshua Soto (SJC-LI Sports Information)

Patchogue, NY| A balanced attack led the St. Joseph's College (L.I.) men's volleyball team to a pair of Skyline Conference victories over Purchase College (3-0) and New Jersey City University (3-0) inside the Danzi Center on Saturday afternoon.

The wins send the Golden Eagles to 13-7 (2-0 Skyline) on the year as Purchase College, 10-5 (2-2 Skyline) and NJCU falls to 13-7 (1-2).

SJC 3, PC 0

Edging Purchase 25-10 in the first set, The Golden Eagles saw the visitors go up 9-8 midway through the second but used a 4-1 run to go up 13-10 before going on a 7-0 run to earn the 25-13 victory.

Tied 15-15 in the third, SJC fell behind 18-17 and again used a quick run - this time of the 6-0 variety - to go up 23-18. Purchase grabbed the next three points but the Golden Eagles took the final two points to earn the 3-0 sweep with a 25-21 third-set victory.

Matt Cole hit a 71.4 kill percentage and collected five kills in the match. Kyle Biggers led the team with 11 kills and three digs, and Paul Curaro added with 10 kills and six digs. Michael Barfield went for a match-best nine digs.

SJC 3, NJCU 0

Tied 14-14 in the first, the Golden Eagles were able to jump ahead of the Gothic Night 18-14 and was able to hold off NJCU's comeback attempt to win the opening frame 25-17, before securing the 25-14 victory. Looking for the sweep, SJC went up 10-8 to take the early advantage and never looked back, SJC rallied off seven points to seal the 25-16 set and 3-0 match victories.

Leading all players in kills was Curaro, who collected 14 kills in the match. Will Flohr, Matthew Amberge, Cole, and Biggers all contributed with six kills, to the Golden Eagles kill total of 42.

Tied 7-7 in the first set, the Golden Eagles were able to jump ahead of the Bulldogs 16-12 and was able to hold of Brooklyn's comeback attempt to win the opening frame 25-21, before securing the 25-21 victory in the second set. Looking for the sweep, SJC went up 12-6 to take the early advantage and never looked back, SJC rallied off five points to seal the 25-16 set and 3-0 match victories.

The Golden Eagles return to action on Tuesday, March 21 when they travel to Troy, NY to take on the Sage Colleges for a 7:00PM Skyline Conference matchup. Live video and stats will be available here.