Riverdale, N.Y. – The College of Mount Saint Vincent won for the fifth time in six Skyline Conference outings on Tuesday and surpassed its win total from a season ago with a 25-18, 25-11, 25-23 triumph over visiting Purchase. Freshman Jacob Johnson (Henderson, Nev.) paced the Dolphins with 12 kills in the match.
 
Mount Saint Vincent carried the play for the first two sets in jumping out to a two set advantage. Purchase hit in negative numbers in all three sets on Tuesday, while the Mount finished the match hitting .217, including .409 in the second stanza.
 
After dominating the second set, allowing the Panthers to pull even just twice in the early going, the Mount fought off the Panthers in the third. Mount Saint Vincent fell behind by as many as five points early in the set before rallying for six straight points to move in front 12-10. Tyler Cucullu (Henderson, Nev.) sparked the run with a pair of service aces.
 
Purchase would move back in front 15-14 after a three point run, but the Dolphins used two aces from James DiGiovanni (Bay Shore, N.Y.) as part of a 4-0 spurt to get the lead back at 18-15. Purchase would pull to within a point late in the set, but kills from Cucullu and Reginald Owens (Staten Island, N.Y.) sealed the sweep of the match and the season series from the Panthers.
 
Johnson was the only player to post double-figures in the kills category on Tuesday, hitting .269 for the Dolphins. He added an ace, five digs and a pair of total blocks to the winning effort. Brett Holiday (Stratford, N.J.) rounded out the match with five total blocks and four kills for the Mount.
 
Cucullu, who is leading the country in service aces per set in Monday's NCAA Statistics Report, finished the night with four aces to go along with nine kills, five digs and three blocks. Timothy Kolodny (Woodland Hills, Calif.) added nine digs for the Mount and three kills.
 
DiGiovanni closed the night with 25 assists for the Mount and three digs and T.J. Barczik (Lake Grove, N.Y.) posted a match-high 10 digs. Owens finished the night with a kill and a pair of blocks in the win for the Dolphins.
 
Overall in the match, Mount Saint Vincent posted a 30-18 advantage in kills and an 8-6 edge in service aces. The Dolphins also won the blocking battle on Tuesday 8.0-3.5.
 
With Tuesday's win, Mount Saint Vincent stands at 8-5 overall on the season and at 5-1 in Skyline Conference play. The Dolphins will return to play on March 17 when they close out a five match home stand against Sarah Lawrence. Match time with the Gryphons is set for 7:00 p.m.

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