NEW YORK-- (www.YORKATHLETICS.com) York College men's volleyball returned to CUNYAC play Tuesday evening, erasing an early deficit to take a 5-set thriller from the John Jay College Bloodhounds (15-11, 7-7 CUNYAC) with a 3-2 triumph (14-25, 25-21, 25-16, 9-25, 15-11) from The Doghouse. The Cardinals snapped a 10-match skid against John Jay, topping the Bloodhounds for the first time since March 17, 2016, when York won 3-1 on its home court. Tonight's match also marked York's first set win against John Jay since 2016, a stretch that spanned 31 sets.

Following the victory, York clinched a spot in the CUNYAC Championship Tournament for the first time since 2016.

On another historic note, with a dime to David Heyliger, Jr. in the second set, Stanley Sanchez became the program's first 1,000-assist member since Avinash Thomas in 2014. The prolific setter now sits on 1,032 career assists

First Set Breakdown

• John Jay jumped out to an early 3-0 lead.   
• Heyliger, Jr. slammed down two kills to pull York within three as both teams played even over the next 12 points.
• The Bloodhounds answered with a 6-0 scoring spree.  
• Sanchez fed Sebastian Gomez three of his four assists over the following 10 points to chop York's deficit to seven (19-12).
• John Jay closed the set with a 6-2 spurt.

Second Set Breakdown

• Both squads split the first 18 points, with there being five ties to start the set.
• Leading 11-10, service aces from Sanchez and Iteoluwakiisi Adegboye helped give the Cardinals a 16-11 edge.
• Smackdowns from Gomez and Heyliger, Jr. maintained York's five-point margin (19-14).
• A trio of Cardinal attack errors got John Jay within one (22-21).
• York claimed the following three points for a 25-21 victory.

Third Set Breakdown

• Trailing 5-3, seven combined spikes from Gomez and Heyliger, Jr. sparked a Cardinal 11-3 burst to lead 14-8.
• A kill from Atilla Nerette got the deficit to within five (16-11), the closest the Bloodhounds got the rest of the stanza.
• York won six of the next 11 points to make the score 22-16.
• Ian McIntosh's ace sealed a 25-16 decision.

Fourth Set Breakdown

• Steven Ajazi and Sebastian Rodriguez combined for a block to knot the score at five.
• Leading 8-7, John Jay went on a 7-1 blitz to go ahead 15-8.
• On the serve of Maxwell Law, the Bloodhounds took home the final nine points for a 25-9 result.

Fifth Set Breakdown

• Omar Alaoui's kill leveled the set at five.
• Responding well, three consecutive spikes from Heyliger, Jr. fueled a 7-1 blitz to lead 13-6.
• A 5-1 John Jay burst trimmed the deficit to three (14-11) before Heyliger, Jr.'s kill clinched a 15-11 conclusion. 

Leading the Cardinals

• York registered a pair of 20-point performers in Heyliger, Jr. and Gomez.
• Heyliger, Jr. posted his eighth-career double-double (second of season), finishing with 19 kills and 15 digs.  
• Gomez went for 17 kills and added two aces, two block assists, and eight digs to his stat line.
• Sanchez captained York's offense with 39 assists and also served two aces.
• Alexis Ramirez chipped in four kills and four digs.
• Up front, Adegboye notched three block assists.
• Joseph Lebron added a team-best 12 digs.
• Adegboye, Heyliger, Jr., Ramirez, and McIntosh all delivered a service ace. 

For Brooklyn

• Nick Fuentes paced John Jay with 16 kills on 35 swings at a match-leading .343 rate., to go with seven digs.
• Nerette followed with seven kills.
• Law (13 assists), Daniel Gonzalez Verdejo (12 assists), and Alex Bridgelall (11 assists) combined to move John Jay for 36 of its 39 assists.
• Ajazi recorded a match-high three blocks on six block assists.
• Law served up a team-leading two aces.

Inside the Box Score
John Jay manufactured 43 kills on 112 attacks (.214 percentage), while the Cardinals tallied 42 kills at a .057 rate. York recorded more assists (41-39), digs (46-41), and aces (8-6), while the Bloodhounds had a 14-6 edge in block assists.

Up Next
The Cardinals (6-15, 4-9 CUNYAC) close out the regular season Thursday (Apr. 3) with a CUNYAC matchup on the road against the Medgar Evers College Cougars (0-17, 0-13 CUNYAC) starting at 6 p.m. inside Cougars Cave.

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