NEW YORK, N.Y.— The Yeshiva men's volleyball team closed out its 2015 regular season schedule on Tuesday evening with a 3-1 win (25-18, 12-25, 25-17, 26-24) over St. Joseph's-Brooklyn in a Hudson Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (HVIAC) battle at the Max Stern Athletic Center.
Yeshiva ends its regular season with a 7-17 overall record and a 4-2 showing in the HVIAC. St. Joseph's-Brooklyn drops to 8-9 overall and 2-3 in the HVIAC. With the win, the Maccabees will be no worse than the No. 2 seed for the HVIAC men's volleyball championship on Wednesday April 15. Yeshiva will face either St. Joseph's-Brooklyn or Webb Institute in the semifinal round at 6 p.m. A win by the Maccabees will put them in the championship game against the winner of the other 6 p.m. semifinal round match at 8 p.m. at the Max Stern Athletic Center
In Tuesday's win, the Maccabees were led by
Eliakim Gartenberg and
Joseph Lipton with 11 kills each. Lipton added 10 digs, a service ace and a block, while Gartenberg had two total blocks.
Benjamin Mann added 10 kills, 10 digs and four service aces for the Maccabees, while
Kolya Miller had eight kills, five digs and a block.
Mishael Miller had a game-high 19 digs for Yeshiva.
St. Joseph's-Brooklyn was led by Raul Urshela with 17 kills and 10 digs.
The first three sets never saw a lead change and just two ties. In set one, the Maccabees broke a 1-1 tie with a four point rally to take a 5-1 lead. Then with the score 5-2, Yeshiva scored five more times to take a 10-2 lead and the Maccabees coasted to the win in the first set.
In the second set, the visiting Bears broke open a close match with nine straight points to turn a 10-9 lead into a 19-9 advantage and go on to victory.
In the third set, Yeshiva led most of the way. The only tie came when St. Joseph's-Brooklyn knotted the score at 14-14. But the Maccabees scored four in a row to lead 18-14. Then, while up 20-17, Yeshiva scored the final five points to win the set and take a two set to one lead.
In the fourth set, the score was tied 11 times and the lead changed hands on three occasions. The largest lead by either team was three points, and both teams led by that margin once during the set. St. Joseph's-Brooklyn led 5-2 led early on, while Yeshiva, while down 21-20, scored four in a row to lead 24-21. But the Bears answered with three in a row to make the score 24-24, before a kill by Mann, followed by a bad set by St. Joseph's-Brooklyn secured the win for the Maccabees.
