CHARGERS WIN THRILLING MATCH OVER STAC IN ECC OPENER

February 23, 2024

CHARGERS WIN THRILLING MATCH OVER STAC IN ECC OPENER

St. Thomas Aquinas College

3-10, 1-1

Dominican University New York

6-6, 1-0

Final

St. Thomas Aquinas College 3-10, 1-1

Dominican University New York 6-6, 1-0

Orangeburg, N.Y. (2/23/24) The Dominican University New York men's volleyball team came out victorious in their East Coast Conference (ECC) opener over the Spartans of St. Thomas Aquinas College on Coach Baxter court in the Hennessy Center.

The Chargers won the thrilling five set match to improve to 6-6 overall and 1-0 in the ECC. The Spartans fall to 3-10 overall and 1-1 in the ECC.

STAC took the 1-0 match lead after a 25-22 victory in the opening set. Dominican finished the second set after outscoring the Spartans 15-9 to tie the match at 1-1.

Dominican used a 9-0 run early in the third set before STAC fought back using an 11-5 run to cut the DU lead to three points. Dominican finished off a 25-18 victory in the third set to take a 2-1 match advantage.

The Spartans started off the fourth set strong and took an early 5-1 lead before DU closed the gap and trailed 11-9. The Spartans never lost the lead despite a late push by the Chargers and took the fourth set 25-22 to force a fifth and final set.

The Chargers jumped out to an 8-3 lead in the decisive fifth set but the Spartans fought back using a 7-2 run to tie the score at 10-10.

STAC continued their run and led the Chargers 14-12. The Chargers scored four unanswered points to take the fifth set 16-14 and sealed the 3-2 match victory.

The Chargers were led by Phinehas Wiley (Cedarburg, Wis.) who matched his career high 18 kills and also finished with 20.5 points which included three total blocks and a team-high 12 digs.

Luke Koster (Geneva, Ill.) finished with a team-high 38 assists and recorded 11 digs and two service aces. Ayden Shaw (Centennial, Colo.) recorded eight kills, 11 points, six digs, and three solo blocks. Gavin Tate (Appleton, Wis.) and Jacob Davidson (Bloomington, Ind.) each recorded six block assists. Tate also added eight kills and two solo blocks while Davidson finished with seven kills and one solo block.

Tommaso Falchi (Spoleto, Italy) recorded five kills and 5.5 points while Tyler Roukey (Hudson, Ohio) finished with 11 digs.

The Spartans were led by Andre Cippiciani who recorded 17 kills and 18.5 points. Kyran Versteegen had a match high 45 assists while Thomas Santos, Nicholas Santos, and Cippiciani all finished with 10 digs.

The Chargers return to action Saturday afternoon on the road against John Jay College at 1:00 PM.

Team Stats

Game Leaders

St. Thomas Aquinas College

K: Andre Cippiciani - 17

B: David Weiss - 5

D: 3 Players (#01, #05, #16) - 10

SA: Nicholas Santos - 4

Dominican University New York

K: Phinehas Wiley - 18

B: Gavin Tate - 8

D: Phinehas Wiley - 12

SA: Luke Koster - 2

Team Stats

St. Thomas Aquinas College

Dominican University New York

Hitting %

.115

.237

Blocks

9.5

15.0

Digs

Aces

Full stats

The aim of Dominican University New York is to promote educational excellence, leadership, and service in an environment characterized by respect for the individual and concern for the community and its needs. Founded by the Dominican Sisters of Blauvelt, the university is an independent institution of higher learning, Catholic in origin and heritage. In the Dominican tradition, it fosters the active, shared pursuit of truth and embodies an ideal of education rooted in the values of reflective understanding and compassionate involvement. Committed to building its programs upon a strong foundation in the liberal arts and sciences, the university maintains a student-centered climate and serves a diverse community of students in undergraduate and graduate programs. The university empowers this community of learners to excel, lead and serve with integrity and to engage responsibly in the pursuit of a more just, ethical and sustainable world. Dominican also sponsors 17 varsity intercollegiate sports that compete at the NCAA Division II level. To learn more about Dominican University New York, please visit www.duny.edu.