NEW YORK – The City College of New York men's volleyball team began a three-match homestand with a showdown against CUNY Athletic Conference (CUNYAC) rival Brooklyn on Tuesday night.  In a contest that was played without spectators due to public health concerns, the Beavers (12-5, 3-1 CUNYAC) recorded a 25-22, 25-17, 25-23 victory over the Bulldogs (6-11, 1-3 CUNYAC) at Nat Holman Gymnasium.

There were 13 ties and five lead changes in a tight first set.  CCNY used a 5-0 run midway to open up a 20-16 advantage, but Brooklyn responded with a 6-2 rally to level the score at 22-22.  After a CCNY timeout, the Beavers went back in front on a Brooklyn hitting error.  Carlos Maldonado Madrid (Honduras) followed with a kill to give CCNY a set point, and the Beavers closed out a hard-fought 25-22 win.

CCNY then raced out to a 5-1 cushion to begin the second set.  Brooklyn got within two at 6-4 before a Stormer Horton (Waimea, HI) kill started a 12-4 spurt that gave the Beavers an 18-8 lead.  After the Bulldogs trimmed their deficit to six at 21-15, Elijah Parks (Long Beach, NY), Andrew Chan (Flushing, NY) and Vukasin Bozic (Belgrade, Serbia) all slammed kills to bring the Beavers to set point.  Bozic then finished off a set in which CCNY hit a combined .345 (15 kills, five errors, 29 attempts), as the Beavers took a 2-0 lead in the match with the 25-17 set win.

In the third set, the teams traded points early on before CCNY opened up an 11-8 lead.  However, Brooklyn countered with a 12-7 run to go in front, 20-18.  The Beavers eventually evened the score at 23-23, then earned their first match point opportunity on a Brooklyn service error.  A hitting error by the Bulldogs followed, giving CCNY the set, 25-23, and the match, 3-0.

Parks led the Beavers with nine kills, while Bozic had eight kills and nine digs.  Horton hit .636 in the match, smashing seven kills without an error in 11 attempts.  Maldonado Madrid also registered seven kills to go along with eight digs.  Chan handed out 30 assists, and Jonathan Liao (Jackson Heights, NY) tallied a team-high 11 digs.  As a team, CCNY posted a .215 hitting percentage (36-16-93) and outdug Brooklyn 40-37.

Jasper Diangco finished with 10 kills on .320 hitting for the Bulldogs.  Calvin Mullen contributed nine kills, and Darren Roach added eight kills.  Michael Valentin distributed 33 assists, while Utku Tanritanir notched a match-high 13 digs.  Brooklyn hit a combined .183 (34-17-93) in the match.

After playing four straight CUNYAC matches, CCNY is scheduled to resume its non-conference slate on Thursday night, when Bard (1-15) visits Nat Holman Gymnasium at 7 p.m.  The Beavers and Raptors previously met on Jan. 28, with CCNY earning a 3-1 victory.