Men’s Volleyball Eliminated in Skyline Semis

Written by Andrew Capitelli (SJC-LI Sports Information)

Union, NJ| The St. Joseph's College (L.I.) men's volleyball team saw its inaugural campaign come to an end on Thursday evening with a 3-0 defeat at the hands of defending Skyline Conference champion Kean University in the conference semifinals.

The Golden Eagles finish their first-ever season with a 19-11 overall record as the Cougars move to 25-8 to host the College of Mount St. Vincent in the Skyline final this Saturday.

Freshman Paul Curaro lead an SJC attack that generated on 26 kills in the match and was also credited with a team-high six digs. Junior Tyler Jones dished out a team-best 22 assists.

Tight through the first set, SJC tied the frame at nine following a Matthew Amberge kill, but the hosts rattled off the next four to go up 13-9.

Later in the first, a Kyle Biggers kill brought SJC to within two points (22-20), but the Cougars grabbed three of the last four points to win the set by a 25-21 scoreline.

Kean would cruise to a 25-13 victory in the second before a more tightly contested third game. After a Curaro service ace, Kean's Nico Mercadante was credited with an attack error that brought SJC to within one (15-14).

Curaro's kill minutes later tied the frame at 19, but a 7-2 run by Kean propelled them to 25-20 set and 3-0 match victories

Kean's Ian Capp was credited game-highs in assists (32) and aces (5), while Nick Buseski went for a game-best 11 kills.