Staten Island, NY (Feb. 23, 2016) – Purchase College senior hitter Kevin Carges capped an outstanding performance by hammering down five kills on seven swings in the fifth set of a 3-2 (25-18, 14-25, 25-21, 14-25, 10-15) non-conference win over the College of Staten Island Thursday evening.

The Panthers improve to 4-2 overall with the win, while the Dolphins drop to 1-4 on the season.

Carges (Brockport, NY) hit .289 for the match with 21 kills and eight errors on 45 attacks while serving up a match-high seven aces.  Senior setter Andrew Schwab (Merrick, NY) added another 18 points with 16 kills for an impressive .342 attacking percentage.  Schwab finished with one ace, two blocking assists and a team-best 28 assists.

Panther senior setter Riley Damerell (Rochester, NY) piled up 21 assists, eight kills and got in on five digs and two blocks in the winning effort. Sophomore hitter Luke Kubisch (Delmar, NY) chipped in with eight kills and two blocking assists. Sophomore libero Austin Lynch (Verona, NY) and rookie Andreo Otiniano (FR/Mamaroneck,NY) rounded out the defensive effort with 14 and 11 digs, respectively.    

Staten Island jumped ahead early in the first set, scoring 11 kills on 31 attacks for a 25-18 opening win over the Panthers.  The Dolphins used a 9-2 run to take a lead over the Panthers in the first stanza and the Panthers couldn't seem to find an answer to the Dolphins' attack. Holding a 13-6 lead the Dolphins made sure to keep the pressure on to not allow the Panthers back into the game. The Panthers would make a late push but the Dolphins were able to stop them in their tracks and secure the opening set to take a 1-0 lead in the match.
 
Purchase rallied in the second set however, tallying 14 kills on 32 attacks with just three errors. A 6-0 run by the Panthers blew the set open and put the Dolphins in a hole that they were unable to dig themselves out of. Carges was able to pick apart the Dolphins when he was up to serve and collected a pair of service aces for the Panthers.  Purchase claimed the set, 25-14.
 
With the match tied at one, the Dolphins regrouped and returned to their opening set form and produced their best set of the night.  CSI tallied 13 kills on 38 total attacks with just five errors for the 25-21 set win.

The Dolphins and Panthers squared off in the fourth set with Purchase firing on all cylinders.  The Dolphins struggled to fend off the Panther offense which was led by Schwab's six kill performance. Purchase collected the set win, 25-14, as both teams prepared for a fifth-set tiebreaker.

The Panthers kept the momentum rolling in the final set but the Dolphins were not ready to throw the towel in just yet.  Down 3-1, the Dolphins were able to fight back and tie it up at three.  From that point however, the Panthers would hit the half-way point and flip the court on the Dolphins.  Purchase notched the final set 15-10 to take home the 3-2 victory.

The Panthers will return to action on Feb. 2 for a non-conference match hosted by Pratt University at 7:30 p.m.