Patchogue, NY| The St. Joseph's College men's volleyball team split a pair of non-conference contests Saturday in the Danzi Center. The Golden Eagles dropped a 3-1 decision to SUNY New Paltz before bouncing back for a 3-1 win over Emmanuel College.

New Paltz: 3 SJC: 1

The Golden Eagles trailed early falling in sets one and two, 25-15 and 28-26. In a must win set three, SJC broke a 12-12 stalemate with six unanswered points capped by a kill from sophomore Paul Curaro for an 18-12 advantage they would never relinquish for the 25-19 win. The Hawks led wire to wire in the fourth set cruising to a 25-20 win.

St. Joseph's was led by Curaro with 11 kills and a team-high 10 digs.  Sophomore Matthew Amberge posted a .296 hitting percentage with 11 kills and eight digs.  Senior setter Tyler Jones dished 34 assists and sophomore Matt Cole was credited on five block assists and four kills.

Nick Smith of New Paltz knocked down a game-high 30 kills behind a .533 hitting percentage. Setter Matthew Grace tossed a game-high 53 assists and libero Robert Nolan led all players with 13 digs.

Emmanuel: 1 SJC: 3

St. Joseph's stormed to a 2-0 lead with 25-17, 25-13 wins in sets one and two. In set three, the home team was held to a .019 hitting percentage with just nine kills and fell to the Saints 25-20. Set four saw Emmanuel leading early, but the Golden Eagles took a six point swing and turned it to a 14-10 advantage. The Saints closed the gap to two at 17-15, but SJC rattled off eight of the final 11 points for the 25-18 win.

Amberge matched a game-high 15 points with 16 digs for the Golden Eagles. Curaro added 14 kills and sophomore Will Flohr pitched in with 13 kills and a team-high 21 digs. Sophomore libero Michael Barfield racked up 19 digs and Jones recorded 34 assists.

 Emmanuel's Erik English finished with 15 kills and 12 digs with setter Seamus McDonagh recording 29 assists. Libero Max Gottuso came away with a game-high 22 digs.

The Golden Eagles return to the Danzi Center Saturday, March 3 when they host City College of New York. Game time is set for 12:00 pm.