Box Score

Purchase, NY (Feb. 11, 2013) – Another strong effort from the Purchase College men's volleyball team unfortunately did not transfer into the win column Monday night at home.

The Panthers (1-5, 0-1 Skyline Conference) narrowly fell short in four sets, dropping the match to NYU-POLY (25-20, 25-20, 20-25, 25-20) in a contest that was decided by five points in each set, with Purchase playing at its best in both the third and fourth sets.

The opening frame saw the Panthers fall behind early, but come back to tie it at 11-11. NYU-POLY and Purchase would see-saw throughout with a late spurt propelling the Jays to a 25-20 win.

NYU-POLY duplicated the same set score in game two, mirroring the win by capturing another set in one more strong late finish.

However, the rebuilding Panthers would upend NYU-POLY in the third set and keep pace in the fourth set before the visitors proved to be too much, taking the finale 25-20.

Purchase looked sharp in the third set and despite the loss, stayed in the contest throughout, dearly missing Taylor Edelmanm (SR/Bethel, CT), who is out with an illness.

The Panthers hit their best as a team in the third set (.182) after opening with two subpar sets. The team hit .143 in the fourth and final set, but NYU-POLY showed more balance for most of the match, hitting .250, .185, .000 and .273, respectively.

Much of the production was dominated by one player on each side, with NYU-POLY's  Fild Kroqi netting 16 of the team's match high 35 kills. Setter Rishi Sarkar handed out a team-high 28 assists for the visitors. Eikaz Gilani added six kills for NYU-POLY in the victory.

For the Panthers, Kevon Kareem Bruce (JR/Hayes, Jamaica) led the way with a nice effort (22 kills, 13 digs), recording a double-double. Mateo Morel (SR/Bronx, NY) added six kills, and setter Alex Billen-Calhoun (SR/Niskayuna, NY) dished out a match-high 30 assists in another supreme effort around the net.

Two-sport athlete Blake Borysewicz (SO/Brooklyn, NY), who is also wrapping up the basketball season, appears to be getting more comfortable. He contributed four kills and nine digs, second on the night in that category for the Panthers.

NYU-POLY improved to 3-6 and 2-2 in league play.  

Purchase will look to bounce back on Sunday in a tri-match at Kean.