The College of Staten Island men’s volleyball squad kicked off conference play with a CUNYAC tri-match at Brooklyn College, playing both Brooklyn and Medgar Evers College.  In their first match CSI secured their season’s first win, scoring a 25-6, 25-7, and 25-5 win over Medgar Evers.  Immediately after, however, CSI fell in straight sets to Brooklyn by scores of 25-7, 25-19, and 25-22.  The Dolphins now hold a 1-3 overall record with a 1-1 CUNYAC mark.

It was all CSI in the opener, as they got ahead on MEC on Brooklyn’s court by an 18-0 count in the opening set, cruising to a win.  Adil El Haddad registered two service aces and CSI took advantage of eight MEC attack errors.  The Dolphins tallied eight kills in the set and then 10 more in set number two, led by the attacking of Anthony Vigilante who posted four on his own.  In the third and final set, 9 kills alone by Danil Kukovitskiy secured a huge win and the clinching set for the Dolphins.

Kukovitskiy led all with 10 total kills, followed by Mark Palencia’s 9.  El Haddad led the way with 6 aces and 25 assists, while Brandon lei led all defensively with 14 digs.

The Dolphins, however, struggled upon return to the court to take on the host Bulldogs.  The Dolphins could only muster three kills next to six errors in the opening set while Brooklyn pounced, scoring 13 kills next to no errors in a heavy-handed opening win.  In the second set, a 5-0 run gave BC a 16-11 cushion and then three straight errors saw CSI fall behind 19-12, before they fell, 25-19.

CSI went back-and-forth with BC in the third and final set, using a Palencia kill to score an 18-16 advantage.  BC then made their move, scoring a 6-2 run to close the match despite another pair of Palencia kills.

In the second contest CSI was led by Palencia’s 16 kills with 19 El Haddad assists and a pair of Kukovitskiy blocks.  Ahmed Moawad led BC with 10 kills while Snigdho Hassan tallied 14 digs.

The Dolphins will next be in action on Thursday evening, when they play host to Purchase College at 7pm, looking to get back in the win column.