Riverdale, NY (March 19, 2016) – The Purchase men's volleyball team traveled to the College of Mount Saint Vincent for a Skyline Conference tri-match on Saturday afternoon.  The Panthers dropped a tough 3-0 (25-12, 25-14, 25-20) to the host Dolphins and rebounded with a convincing 3-2 (22-25, 25-27, 25-18, 25-20, 15-9) victory over St. Joseph's College (Brooklyn).
 
VS. CMSV
Early on in the first set, the Dolphins and Panthers went back and forth with PuRchase getting to within one point at 9-8. CMSV took control of the match on the serve of Tyler Cucullu who tallied four aces to take the Bears to a 21-9 lead. 

In the second set both teams went on three point runs to start but the Dolphins put together a 7-0 at a critical time to take a 15-9 lead.  Cucullu and Neven Skoblar would combine for two blocks and Sean O'Connor would smash a kill to give the Dolphins a set win.

CMSV seemed to have the set in control when they went up 16-9 on Augustine Ameruso's first kill of the season but Purchase would win six of the next seven points to make it 17-15. The Dolphins would steady the ship and close the set with a 25-20 victory.
 
For Purchase, senior Matthew McCarthy (Fayetteville, NY) led his team with five kills and a match-high 11 digs, while tallying one dig and one service ace.

CMSV's Skoblar led all players with 14 kills and a .520 hitting percentage but Cucullu added nine kills as well as eight aces. Logan Dickover tallied 30 assists, while Jordan Steiger added seven digs.
 
VS. ST. JOE'S
St. Joseph's trailed 9-7 early in the first set, but claimed momentum with a 5-0 rally highlighted by three kills from Thomas Kennedy. Kennedy's ace later made it set point at 24-18. The defiant Panthers answered with four straight points and threatened to steal the set, but Clyde Delacruz finally delivered the set for the Bears as they jumped out to a 1-0 lead, their first over the Panthers in eight meetings.
 
The sides combined for 31 kills in a back-and-forth second set. Purchase maintained a slight lead for most of the set before St. Joseph's late push. A Chris Williams (SO/Valley Stream, NY) kill handed the Panthers set point at 24-23, but the Bears claimed the next two points to fight it off. A service error knotted the game 25-all, and St. Joseph's recorded the final two points, beginning with Kennedy's timely kill, to clinch a dramatic finish and 2-0 match lead.
 
Trailing 6-5 early in the third, the Panthers set the pace with five unanswered. They led the remainder of the set, slamming nine kills in avoiding a sweep and coasting to a 25-18 win.
 
The comeback minded Panthers jumped out to an 8-4 lead in the fourth, but St. Joseph's recorded nine of the next 11 points to move ahead 13-10. Purchase controlled the latter stages, however, reclaiming the lead at 16-15 and recording the final three points of the set, including Austin Lynch's (FR/Verona, NY) set clinching ace, to draw even at 2-2.
 
In the deciding fifth set, the Panthers powered three consecutive kills through the Bear defense to highlight a 4-0 push and move up 8-4 at the side change. St. Joseph's claimed three of the next four points to move within 9-7, but Purchase recorded four of the final five points, including Riley Damerell's (Rochester, NY) match clinching kill, to seal a 15-9 fifth-set match clinching victory.
 
Damerell led the Panther attack with 17 kills while also tallying a defensive-high 17 digs.  Williams also recorded a double-double, contributing 16 kills and 11 digs.  McCarthy, Griffin Rapp (SO/Rochester, NY) and Lynch anchored the defense with 13 digs apiece. McCarthy also added eight kills on offense while Schwab notched a match-high 41 assists.

With the win over the Bears, the Panthers advance to 11-13.  It is the most wins the men's volleyball program has achieved since the 2009 (12-10) season.