The Ramapo College Men’s Volleyball team put up a strong performance at home on Feb. 1, securing victories over Bard College and Eastern University. These back-to-back wins extended their winning streak, and brought their overall record to 3-3 for the season.
Coming off a hard-fought 3-0 win over Drew University on Jan. 29, the team continued their strong performance defeating Bard 3-1, before grabbing onto another 3-1 victory against Eastern.
The Roadrunners set the tone early against Bard College, dominating the first set 25-12. The Raptors fought back in the second, securing a 25-21 win to even the match. However, Ramapo regained control, closing out the final two sets with scores of 25-15 and 25-22.
Freshman Brady Cascone led the offense with 20 kills, three digs, and two total blocks. Graduate student Reece Kirchofer added seven kills and three digs, while senior JoJo Meyer collected team high 34 assists and nine digs. Ramapo collectively posted 42 kills on 106 attempts with 22 errors.
For Bard College, freshman Sidney Stein recorded 10 kills and two aces, while junior Quinn Lewis anchored the back row with eight digs. Freshman Pearse Esposito tallied 16 assists. Junior Georgi Chikolov contributed with 13 assists and one ace. The team posted 29 kills on 102 attempts with 26 errors.
In their second match of the day, Ramapo faced a tougher challenge against Eastern University. However, behind an outstanding performance from Kirchofer and Cascone, the Roadrunners were able to secure the win in four sets.
Kirchofer and Cascone each recorded 19 kills, with Kirchofer also adding four total blocks, including two solo efforts, and nine digs. Cascone also collected three blocks, one solo, and four digs. Meyer stepped up with a season-high 49 assists and 13 digs while also contributing three kills and two blocks. Sophomore Sean McNally contributed to the solid defense with 13 digs.
Eastern put up a fight with 39 kills on 122 attempts and 21 errors. Freshman Kaodi Wokocha led the Eagles with 15 kills and nine digs, while junior Max Bushong and sophomore Josh Hrabosky combined for 24 digs. Freshman Ronan Landis dished out 23 assists. Even though Eastern had a strong offensive and defensive front, they were unable to get past Ramapo’s aggressive attack. Eastern dropped their overall season record to 5-3.
The Roadrunners return to action on Thursday, Feb. 6 when they host the second-highest ranked New York University in a non-conference match at 7 p.m.
lkelyman@ramapo.edu
Featured photo courtesy of Ramapo Athletics
