Final Stats

Riverdale, N.Y. – The College of Mount Saint Vincent Men's Volleyball team dropped a three set decision to visiting Rutgers-Newark on Saturday afternoon by scores of 25-27, 18-25 and 18-25. Senior Chris Bacchi (Hicksville, N.Y.) led the offensive attack with nine kills, while Timothy Kolodny (Woodland Hills, Calif.) lifted a team-high 10 digs.
 
The Dolphins got off to a quick start on Saturday and jumped out to a 12-8 lead in the first set after a Bacchi kill and a pair of Scarlet Raider miscues. Mount Saint Vincent would hold on to the lead in the stanza until a 3-0 run from the visitors aided by two Dolphin errors pushed them in front 22-21.
 
Mount Saint  Vincent would retake a 23-22 advantage after a Mark Sargente (Commack, N.Y.) winner and came within a point of taking a 1-0 lead in the match following a Brett Holiday (Stratford, N.J.) kill and a Rutgers-Newark error pushed the Dolphins in front 25-24.
 
The Scarlet Raiders responded with the final three points of the first set, keyed by a pair of Brett Pickens winners, to steal the set and take a lead in the match that would not be put in jeopardy the rest of the afternoon.
 
Rutgers-Newark jumped in front by a quick 6-1 score in the second set, before the Dolphins recovered with a 5-1 run capped by another Holiday kill to get within 7-6. Rutgers-Newark would answer with a 7-2 spurt of its own to open a 22-15 advantage before taking the frame 25-18.
 
The Mount looked to get back into the match in the third set and came out with a 4-0 run which included three kills from Bacchi and a winner from Joe Ecock (Brooklyn, N.Y.). The visitors had yet another answer for the Dolphins, however, and used a 7-1 scoring run to pull in front 7-5.
 
Mount Saint Vincent would stay within a point, at 7-6 and 8-7, before the Scarlet Raiders strung together seven straight points to open a 15-7 lead. The Dolphins would battle back to within 24-18 after three straight points, but Marcin Midura's 10^th kill of the afternoon secured the sweep for Rutgers-Newark.
 
Bacchi was one of six different players to record a kill for Mount Saint Vincent on his way to the team-high in the category. He hit .222 on the afternoon and also chipped in with six digs.
 
Ecock finished the day with eight kills for the Mount and also posted three block assists and one of the team's two service aces. Holiday added six winners to go along with a block and Sargente put away four kills and lifted nine digs.
 
Senior Michael Sin (Hicksville, N.Y.) handed out a team-high 21 assists on the afternoon to go along with three kills. He also registered an ace and eight digs. Kolodny rounded out the day with the team-high total in digs and a pair of assists, while James DiGiovanni (Bay Shore, N.Y.) recorded three total blocks in his collegiate debut.
 
Midula hit .333 in the match for Rutgers-Newark and also posted the match-high in kills with his 10. Grant Metheny and Pickens each finished with nine kills, while Austin Pappas finished with six.
 
Manuel Felipez led all players with 27 helpers in the contest and Zach Chambers lifted a match-high 13 digs. Pickens and Metheny also combined for seven of the team's 10 block assists.
 
For the match, the Scarlet Raiders finished with 38 kills to 31 for the Mount, while the Dolphins lifted 42 digs as a team to 40 for the visitors. Rutgers-Newark also held the edge in total team blocks 6-4.
 
The loss sees Mount Saint Vincent fall to 3-8 overall on the season. The Dolphins will look to snap their losing skid on Monday night when they host Skyline rival Purchase. The match is scheduled for 7:00 p.m.