BROOKLYN, N.Y. – The Yeshiva University men's volleyball team suffered a heartbreaking five-set loss in its Skyline Conference opener to St. Joseph's College Brooklyn, at the Hill Center, on Thursday evening. Set scores were 25-20, 29-31, 20-25, 25-16, and 16-14.

Yeshiva (1-6, 0-1 Skyline) was up two games to one in the match, but St. Joseph's College Brooklyn (1-9, 1-0 Skyline) rallied to win the last two sets to clinch the conference victory. In fact, the Macs was up 14-12 in the rubber stanza, but could not capitalize on two match-point opportunities. The Bears scored the last four points to seal the game and the match.

Senior setter Chaim Aryeh Rubin and sophomore middle blocker Eliyahou Benhamou each produced 17 points for the Maccabees. Rubin produced a double-double with 15 kills and 22 digs, while scoring a pair of service aces. Benhamou had 13 kills, three solo blocks, seven digs, and added an ace. Sophomore opposite hitter Derek Orenshein also had a strong game defensively, producing 21 digs, while converting six kills, scoring two aces, and adding just as many assists.

With the match tied, 15-15, in the opening set, St. Joseph's outscored Yeshiva by a 10-5 margin to claim the first game, 25-20.

The second set was a thrilling affair, as YU had four set-point opportunities and SJCB had two. It all started with a kill by Orenshein to give Yeshiva a 24-23 advantage. After the home team tied it, an error on the attack gave the Blue and White another chance to win the set. However, the Bears scored two straight points to go up, 26-25, and put Yeshiva on the brink. Benhamou and Rubin combined for back-to-back kills to give YU another set-point opportunity, at 27-26. With the second game tied, 28-28, freshman outside hitter Juan Herran Ocampo had a successful attack that gave St. Joseph's its second set-point opportunity of the stanza. However, Yeshiva answered with three straight points, capped off by a kill from graduate middle blocker Adam Gerszberg, to win the wild second frame, 31-29, and even the match at one set apiece.

The Blue and White trailed, 15-12, in the third game, but a service ace by sophomore outside hitter Jonathan Apsan highlighted a run that tied the set. The home team scored four straight points to retake the lead, 19-15. From that point on, Yeshiva took complete control of the stanza by scoring nine unanswered points to go up, 24-19. Rubin slammed home three kills in that rally, including his third one that earned YU a set-point opportunity. After the Bears pulled to within four, sophomore setter Isaac Pomerance set the ball to Benhamou, who spiked it for the kill to win the game for YU and put St. Joseph's in a 2-1 hole.

The Bears went on an 8-1 run in the fourth set to go up, 19-8. Yeshiva rallied, but it was not enough as St. Joseph's won the game, 25-16, to force the fifth and deciding frame.

After falling behind, 11-7, in the rubber set, Yeshiva rallied with six straight points to take the lead. The comeback started with a kill from Gerszberg. Thanks to a bad set by St. Joseph's Brooklyn, Yeshiva extended its lead to 14-12, giving the Blue and White at least two chances to win the match. However, a kill by senior middle blocker Sean Salomons and a service ace from classmate Tim Driscoll capped off a 4-0 run by the Bears that clinched the come-from-behind victory for the set and the match.

For Yeshiva, Gerszberg added eight kills with 12 digs, while Pomerance led all players with 41 assists and anchored the defense with six digs. Graduate libero Sibi Selvarajah added a career-high 17 digs. Apsan recorded five kills with two digs. Junior middle blocker Yosef Ajami and sophomore outside hitter Joseph Sulaymanov each produced a dig, with the former generating an assist and a block.

For St. Joseph's College Brooklyn, Driscoll had 17 kills and six service aces for 23 points, while anchoring the defense with 20 digs. Junior outside hitter Stephen Eddy had 21 digs, while Salomons added 18 kills. Senior setter Timothy Boyd produced 40 assists. Herran Ocampo had 14 digs and three blocks.

Yeshiva will travel to Hyde Park on Sunday, for a non-conference match at Culinary Institute of America. First serve is scheduled for 12:00 p.m.