Staten Island, NY
(Apr. 6, 2018) – The Purchase College men's volleyball team reaped the benefits of resilience and teamwork in a 3-2 victory over a competitive College of Staten Island squad on Friday night. Set scores were 20-25, 25-21, 25-23, 20-25 and 15-13.
With the non-conference win, the Panthers conclude the 2018 regular season with an overall record of 9-15. CSI drops to 6-14 in defeat.
In the opener, CSI held a modest lead early before Purchase posted a 9-2 run to take a 12-6 lead, powered by a kill each from junior
Luke Kubisch (Delmar, NY) and sophomore
Andreo Otiniano (Mamaroneck, NY). CSI then chipped away methodically, ultimately forcing a 14-14 tie. A Kubisch kill,
Christopher Williams (SR/Valley Spring, NY) service ace and a Dolphin error put the Panthers within one point, 20-19, and forced a CSI timeout. Following the timeout, the Dolphins came to life with kills from Christian Dumadag, Herman Liu and Tairou Diaman to finish the set at 25-20.
Purchase jumped out to a 3-1 lead to start the second set. CSI later came out in ahead, 7-6 on a Diaman kill. The Panthers then rallied and reeled off a 6-0 run to take a 16-11 lead. Kubisch added another kill and Otiniano scored an ace to lead the charge. CSI returned fire, going on a 9-1 run to assume a 19-17 lead. The home team held the lead until it was 21-20. In a set of runs, the Panthers had the final one, scoring the final five points in the set, all five coming off of CSI attacking errors to clinch it for Purchase.
In a crucial third set, PC led by as many as four points on a pair of occasions, the final one at 15-11 when Williams posted a kill. CSI responded with an 8-4 run to tie the game at 19-19. A Kubisch kill stopped the run, however, and Purchase assumed control. A kill by Otiniano clinched the set for Purchase, 25-23.
With their backs up against the wall and needing a win, CSI responded in a big way in the fourth set. Despite a combined X kills from Kubisch, Otiniano,
Christain Colon (FR/Bronx, NY),
Masaya Funakoshi (SO/Tarrytown, NY) and
Thomas Slomka (SO/Orchard Park, NY), the Panthers were not able to fend off the CSI surge. The Dolphins won the fourth, 25-20, and forced the match into a fifth and final set.
The deciding set marked the first of 2018 for both sides. In a fitting finish, the two sides went back-and-forth the entire way. After PC went up 4-1 early, CSI powered back to take their first lead at 6-5. The Panthers answered back with back-to-back Otiniano kills to go along with one kill apiece from Kubisch and Colon. A kill by Panther senior
Griffin Rapp (Rochester, NY) evened the score at 12-12. CSI took its final lead at 13-12 before a Purchase timeout was called. The Panthers finished the set with a quick three points to secure the 15-13 victory.
The win for Purchase evened the season series they have with CSI at 1-1, with both teams winning on the other's court this season.
Kubisch would tie with Otiniano with 16 kills to lead the way. Williams posted 35 assists and 18 digs to lead in those departments.
For CSI, Dumadag posted 16 kills, Adil El Haddad finished with 45 assists, and Zebin Guo posted 20 digs.
CSI out-killed Purchase, 57-47, but CSI committed 46 errors to PC's 30.
