Patchogue, NY (Mar. 18, 2017) – Purchase College men's volleyball split the day's action while attending a Skyline Conference tri-match hosted by St. Joseph's College (L.I.).  The Panthers were turned away in three games by the host Golden Eagles before defeating the New Jersey City University Knights in straight sets.

GAME ONE: St. Joe's 3, Purchase 0 (25-10, 25-13, 25-21)
An early run in their opening set made the difference in Purchase's opener against the St. Joseph's College (L.I.).  After a Purchase kill by Kevin Carges (SR/Brockport, NY) tied the first set at two, Matthew Amberge ignited a Golden Eagle breakaway lead which carried the host team to the 25-10 first set victory.

Purchase jumped out to a 3-0 lead to start the second stanza after two Golden Eagle attacking errors and a Carges kill. St. Joe's found its groove halfway through the set however, and went on a 17-4 run to capture the 25-13 win.
 
The Golden Eagles continued to hit strong in the third stanza, despite Purchase's match-best performance. The Panthers recorded 11 kills in the third set alone, which equaled their kill total for the first and second sets combined.  Luke Kubisch (SO/Delmar, NY) paced the Purchase work with five kills and not a single error in the stanza.  Despite their effort, the Panthers could not cool down the Golden Eagle offense as St. Joe's claimed the match with a 25-22 third set victory.
 
GAME TWO: Purchase 3, NJCU 0 (25-22, 25-21, 25-22)
Purchase returned to the court looking to rebound from its loss to St. Joe's and responded by flipping the script on the Knights of New Jersey City University. Each set was a battle between the Skyline foes but it was Purchase that came out on top with the 3-0 victory.
 
Carges again led the team in kills, sporting an impressive match-best 19 in the win, while hitting at a .368 clip. Senior Andrew Schwab (Merrick, NY) registered nine kills, seven digs and six assists, while fellow senior Riley Damerell (Rochester, NY) tallied 27 assists and worked the net with one solo block.
 
Purchase and NJCU exchanged a series of leads throughout the opening set. A 5-0 Knight run would put NJCU up 22-21 and force a Purchase timeout.  A Knight serving error tied the game at 22 and allowed the 3-0 Panther run that closed out the set, 25-22. 
 
Purchase jumped all over the Knights early in the second set, driving their way to an 11-5 lead.  Carges, Schwab and Damerell combined for the team's 15 kills with 6, 5 and 4 apiece, respectively.  NJCU narrowed the gap to within three points but could not pull past Purchase.  The 25-21 set win ended with a Carges kill.
 
Of his 19 total kills, Carges tallied nine in the final set.  Purchase again took an early lead and carried the momentum throughout the mark, closing the match with a final set score of 25-22.   
 
Purchase, now 11-5 overall and 2-2 in Skyline play, returns to action on Tuesday against Yeshiva University.  The conference match hosted by the Maccabees is set for 8 p.m. at the Max Stern Center.