Men’s Volleyball Splits At Sarah Lawrence Tri-Match

BRONXVILLE, N.Y. – The Wells College men's volleyball team picked up a 3-0 victory over Sarah Lawrence College after falling to the Bridges of Brooklyn College by a 3-1 margin in their opening match on Saturday. With the split, Wells' overall record stands at 3-3 after six non-conference tilts. The Gryphons stand at 0-2 on the year while the Bridges improved to 4-3 on the year.

Brooklyn posted a 3-1 victory via set scores of 22-25, 25-23, 25-20 and 25-19. Wells was able to post a first set victory over the Bridges, using a 10-point run with the score at 14-11 in favor of the Bridges. With junior Paul Hernon (New Hartford, N.Y.) serving, Wells racked up 10-straight poinst to capture a 20-14 lead. Wells utilized a Hernon kill to bring the score to 24-22 before an attacking error by Brooklyn elevated the Express to the first set win.

Wells nearly pulled out the second set against Brooklyn, cutting the score to 22-22 following a Bridges attacking error. A kill by Andy Jacobs (Millburn, N.J.) in the late stages set the score at 24-23, Brooklyn, but a David Dimitruk kill knotted the score at 1-1. The Express and Bridges battled across the next two sets, but Brooklyn was able to secure six and five point set victories, respectively.

Sophomore J.J. Podczasy (Macungie, Pa.) led all Wells players with 15 kills while classmate Derek Nipps (Turnersville, N.J.) led the team with 39 assists. Defensively, the Express utilized 15 digs by senior C.J. Bayly (Waymart, Pa.) to lead the squad in that category. Three different players racked up double-digit kill totals for the Bridges, including a team-leading 14 from Antony Koyfman. Timothy Hui and Hoyin Ki posted 27 and 21 assists, respectively, while Mihail Osipov tallied 15 digs defensively.

Wells also posted a program-record 14.5 team blocks in the contest via four solo blocks and 21 total block assists.

Versus the host Gryphons of Sarah Lawrence College, Wells posted a 3-0 victory in straight sets (25-7, 25-14, 25-7). Cumulatively, Wells made only four errors in 36 total attacks to hit .556 on the afternoon, the second-best single match hitting percentage in team history. 19 total service aces also stand as the second-most in one match in team history. 41 total kills in a three set match also ties the all-time team record.

In the opening match, Wells led by as much as 22-6 before a service error gave the Gryphons their seventh point. Freshman Alex Battey (Palmdale, Calif.) rattled off six service aces in the second set that Wells captured by a 25-14 margin. The Express took advantage of seven attack errors in the third and final set as Wells jumped out to a 24-6 lead. A Derek Komar service error secured a 25-7 victory for the Express in the third and final stanza.

Podczasy posted an efficient eight kills on 11 total attacks while also added a team-leading four blocks. Battey's six service aces in the second set stood as the match high for both squads while Nipps assisted 19 of his team's 24 total kills against Sarah Lawrence. Bayly accounted for five of his team's 12 digs in the match. The Gryphons were led by Cameron Martinez's four kills. Brent Terry notched seven assists while Ishaan Pujari totaled three digs for the hosts.

The Express return to action this Friday, Feb. 7 as they face-off against Penn St.-Altoona, Berkeley College, Sage College and the host Keuka College beginning at 11:00 a.m.