PURCHASE, NY - The Purchase College men's volleyball team fell in a heartbreaker Tuesday night, losing to the Bulldogs of Brooklyn College in five sets to kickoff the 2020 season.

Set scores for the match were 15-25, 25-19, 25-19, 17-25 and 15-10. With the victory, the Bulldogs improved to 2-1.

Following their first set dominance, the Panthers were primed to earn an easy win. In the frame, the team hit .350 with 10 kills and used a couple nice scoring runs to bury Brooklyn along the way. 

However, the Bulldogs never played that poorly the rest of the game, while Purchase was never able to recreate their magic from the first set. 

After falling behind early in the second frame, Brooklyn rallied back to take the lead at 11-10, thanks to a 7-0 run. From there, the two squads battled back-and-forth with four tie scores and one lead change.

Finally, the Bulldogs were able to put some separation between themselves and the hosts, as they outscored the Panthers, 6-1, over the final seven points to secure the win, 25-19.

The Bulldogs' momentum from the second set carried into the third, as the squad hit a match-best, .471 with 10 kills in the frame. Even while facing the great hitting of the guests, the Panthers still jumped out to an early lead in the frame, 11-7. The four-point difference remained past the midway point of the match at 17-13, until the guests flipped the script on Purchase.

Brooklyn responded by scoring seven of the next eight points to grab the lead, 20-18. A kill from senior Andreo Otiniano (Mamaroneck, NY) momentarily slowed Brooklyn's advancement, but it was too late to completely stop it. The Bulldogs proceeded to score five points in a row to seal another 25-19 set win.

Entering the fourth set, the guests could sense blood in the water as they had completely flipped the narrative of the game. Despite that though, Purchase kept battling. After falling behind early, 13-9, the Panthers erupted for seven-straight points to change the fourth frame in their favor. 

Brooklyn then won three of the next four points to cut its deficit to 17-16, before the Panthers' offensive erupted once more. With the support of a noisy opening-night crowd inside the Purchase College Gym, the Panthers embarked on an 8-1 run to seal the fourth set, 25-17, and force a deciding 15-point fifth set. 

Again, the momentum certainly seemed to be in Purchase's favor entering the final frame, but it was the Bulldogs that came out swinging. The guests opened the frame by scoring seven of the first nine points, before eventually pushing their lead to 10-4, putting the Panthers in a major hole.

But just like they had all game long, the hosts fought back.

Over the next seven points, Purchase outscored Brooklyn, 5-2, to make the contest, 12-9. The Panthers continued to battle, but eventually just ran out of chances and time, as the Bulldogs did enough to earn the 15-10 victory.

For the match, the Panthers lead in almost every major category. They had a better hitting percentage (.164 to .089), more kills (41-33), less hitting errors (23-24) and more points (56-47).

But it didn't matter. Brooklyn did what it needed to, when it had to. 

Individually, Otiniano powered the Panthers in his final season opener, finishing with 10 kills, 12 assists and seven digs.

Matthew Waterhouse (SO/Massapequa Park, NY) added nine kills and three aces, while Jeremiah Huntt (SO/Bronx, NY) collected eight kills, four aces and five digs. 

Freshman Idris Idris (Bronx, NY) tallied 18 assists in his first collegiate game. Thomas Palko (SO/Southington, CT) finished with a team-high 12 digs.

As for the guests, Omar Rezika (SO/Alexandria, Egypt) led the team with a game-high 11 kills and Michael Valentin (SR/Brooklyn, NY) added 27 assists, two aces and a block in the win.

Up next for the Panthers is the first road action of the season, as the team travels to Pennsylvania for a tri-match. Their opening contest will be against Wilkes University at 11 a.m., before they finish off the day with CCNY at 1 p.m. Those games will be played on January 25th and you can follow along both right here.