NEW YORK, N.Y. — After dropping the first two sets, the St. Joseph's University, N.Y. (Brooklyn) men's volleyball team bounced back to take the third and fourth sets. However, Yeshiva University held on to take the decisive fifth set to defeat the Bears, 2-3 (13-25, 22-25, 25-19, 25-19, 10-15).
How it Happened
Although the Bears would tie the first set early on, the Maccabees failed to let their lead go, using four-point spurts throughout the set to clinch the 25-13 result.
The Bears saw a 6-5 in the second set before the hosts picked up six of the next eight points to lead 11-8. SJBK immediately close the gap to one, again doing so late in the set at 18-17. A formidable attack saw Yeshiva take set two, 25-22.
An 11-4 start in the third was fueled by a Bears attack that started to come alive while taking advantage of Yeshiva mistakes. They managed to claw their way back to within one, 17-16, but the navy and gray took the stanza 25-19.
The fourth proved to be the closest of the five sets as neither side held a lead of more than three for much of the set. At 17-15, the Bears notched three kills – coming from Lasha Kemashvili (Brooklyn, N.Y./James Madison), Alex Helfant (Quito, Ecuador/Alliance Academy International) and Frank Rivera (Astoria, N.Y./Gramercy Arts) – while ending the set on a 5-1 run to force a decisive set, 25-19.
Kemashvili and Helfant picked up kills to begin the fifth set but a 2-1 lead was short-lived as Yeshiva swung the lead in their favor, courtesy of kills from Lavi Friedman. The Maccabees held on win the set 15-10 and the match 3-2.
For the Bears
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Helfant had a team-best 17 kills followed by Rivera's 10. They both had 20 and 22 dogs, respectively.
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Kemashvili and Frank Tello (Quito, Ecuador/Alliance Academy International) each had eight kills and combined for 13 digs.
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Leonel Bravo (Astoria, N.Y./Queens Vocational and Technical) had a match-leading 23 digs.
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Keiran McMullan (Farmingdale, N.Y./Plainedge) finished with 36 assists.
Up Next
The Bears will make their first-ever visit to the SUNY College at Old Westbury on Thursday, March 21. First serve is scheduled for 6 pm.
