The City College of New York men's volleyball team fell in a heartbreaking five sets 3-2 (25-16, 23-25, 25-20, 29-31, 20-18) to Purchase College on Thursday night.
City (0-3) was off to a quick start in the first set as they took the first two points, but Purchase (2-4) was close behind. The first set remained close as both teams went back-and-forth with points. The Panthers went on a 6-0 run, coming off of three service aces, two CCNY attack errors and one kill to put them up 14-8. CCNY did not give up, and fought hard against the Panthers, but Purchase took the first set 25-16.
Continuing their hot start from the first set, the Panthers took the first four points of the second set, but City would not give up. After Purchase took a big 11-3 lead, City called timeout. It was a hard fought battle, but the Beavers cut the deficit 17-9. CCNY continued to make big plays on the court and then finally turned the set around and tied it 22-22. The Beavers made the comeback and took the second set 25-23.
If the first two sets seemed like a battle, the third set was no different. Both teams exchanged points as each looked to take the advantage. It wasn't until the Panthers took a 18-14 advantage that either team really had a significant lead for the third set. CCNY attacked the ball and came out strong, but Purchase took the third set 25-20 and was now leading the match 2-1.
City had been down before and knew they had to fight hard if they wanted a victory. However, just like in the first three sets, both teams played back-and-forth ball each taking points one-by-one. Purchase took a big 19-16 lead, but like the second set CCNY fought back and would not give up. The Beavers came back and tied the set and then it was back to both teams exchanging points. The fourth set went into extra points as neither team would surrender. City held on and took the 30-29 lead with a kill by
Sebastjano Aga and then took the fourth set and forced a fifth set with a 31-29 victory.
It all came down to the final set. Purchase took a 3-0 lead, but City would not give up that easy, they had come back from behind in other sets and would do the same in the fifth set as they tied it 6-6. As with the other sets, it was a lot of back-and-forth action between the non-conference foes. Purchase reached the 15 points first, but having to win by two the Beavers came back strong and tied it then led 16-15. Both teams continued to search for a victory. The Panthers took the 19-18 lead with an attack error by the Beavers and then took the final point off a kill that sealed their victory.
Aga and
Edmund He recorded double-doubles in the loss. Aga tallied 16 kills and 18 digs, while He recorded 11 kills and 22 digs.
David Cham and
Cuong Quoc Tran notched 15 digs a piece in the heartbreaking loss.
Oleksandr Boychuk dished out 28 assists during the five sets.
The Beavers will travel to Baruch College on Saturday, February 6. They will first face John Jay at 10 a.m. followed by CSI at 12 p.m.
