BROOKLYN – The Yeshiva University men's volleyball team earned a statement victory on Wednesday evening by defeating Pratt Institute, in straight sets, at the Pratt Athletic and Recreation Center. Set scores were 25-13, 25-22, and 25-21.

Leading the way for the Maccabees (1-1) was senior Alon Jakubowitz who tallied a team-high 12 kills, while scoring four service aces and providing two digs. Junior Shmuel Aberman had a match-high eight service aces, generated six digs, and tallied three kills. Senior Benjamin Goldstein led all players with 26 assists and had a pair of digs. Classmate Amitai Kolom slammed home six kills, while second-year player Benjamin Smillie produced a hitting percentage of .375, thanks to his four kills, and tallied five digs and an ace. Senior Steven Zelmanovich also had four successful attacks, produced an ace, and anchored the defense with five digs. Fourth-year player Michael Stark chipped in on defense with six digs and provided an assist.

"The team came together to finish all three sets and take the win," Stark said proudly.

After falling behind early in the opening set, Yeshiva scored seven straight points, highlighted by three service aces from Jakubowitz and a kill each by Aberman and Kolom, to propel YU to the 8-3 advantage. Later in the set, YU went on a 5-1 run, beginning with a kill from Jakubowitz and then blocks by Aberman and Kolom, to inflate YU's lead from five points to nine points, at 21-12. After the Cannoneers (0-6) scored the next point, the Macs finished the opening set with five straight points, concluding with back-to-back service aces by junior Asher Kirshtein, to win the game, 25-13, and go up 1-0 in the match.

The Maccabees once again got off to a slow start in the second set, falling behind by a score of 9-5. However, YU scored four straight points, capped off by three consecutive aces from Aberman, to tie the stanza up. Later in the frame, with each team having 15 points, a kill by Jakubowitz and Zelmanovich sparked four straight YU points to give the Blue and White a 19-15 benefit. Pratt could not sustain a long enough rally to tie the set, as Kolom took advantage of Yeshiva's first set-point opportunity by slamming home a kill to give YU the victory in the second game, 25-22, and a 2-0 lead in the match.

Pratt was neck and neck with YU throughout the majority of the third set, and even grabbed a 14-13 lead. However, Aberman once again scored back-to-back-to back service aces, and then Kolom provided a kill, to highlight a 5-0 YU run to propel the Macs to an 18-14 hold. The Cannoneers rallied by to deflate YU's cushion to 22-20, later in the set, but Smillie and Jakubowitz countered with back-to-back kills to give YU a match-point opportunity at 24-20. After Pratt scored the next point, Jakubowitz clinched the match-victory for the Maccabees by slamming home his 12^th kill of the evening, with an assist from Stark.

For Yeshiva, junior Eliezer Benjamin had a kill, while senior Avi Braun provided a dig.

For Pratt, freshman Jason Raymond had a double-double with match-highs of 14 kills and 12 digs, while adding three service aces.

Yeshiva will participate in the Skyline Conference Tri-Match, on the campus of St. Joseph's College Long Island, on Sunday afternoon. YU will take on New Jersey City University at 12:00 p.m. and then take on St. Joseph's College Long Island at 2:00 p.m.