It took five sets, but Purchase State College was able to survive the College of Staten Island men’s volleyball squad by a 3-2 count as part of non-conference play in Purchase, NY. Purchase won the opening set, 25-22, before CSI took a 2-1 lead with wins of 25-21 and 26-24, but the Panthers held strong and won set four, 25-22, before pulling out a 15-6 win in the fifth and deciding set. CSI fell to 5-20 overall while PC lifted their overall mark to 10-17.
Purchase scatter 16 kills in the opening set to take a big win in the opener, holding CSI to just 22 attacks overall. In the second and third frames, CSI righted the ship, amassing 28 kills against just 9 errors. With the score tied at 1-1, CSI scored a crucial 26-24 win, powered by Mark Palencia, who ended up leading the way with 15 total kills on the evening.
Purchase would rally, however, and seemed to wear down a tired CSI team in the fourth set. Kevin Carges and Riley Damerell powered PC to a 25-22 slim victory in the fourth set to force a deciding game five. In that set, it was all Panthers, forcing the Dolphins into multiple errors and coming up with a big, 15-6, win. Carges would ultimately finish with a game high 25 kills, adding 12 digs.
Danil Kukovitskiy turned in a great performance in defeat, posting 13 kills, 10 digs and six total blocks, part of 14 on the night for CSI. Justin Edwardsen finished with a team-high 11 digs adding four blocks.
CSI gets back to action tonight, travelling to take on Medgar Evers at 7pm in Brooklyn in their CUNYAC finale.
