Garden City, NY – The Monroe University men's volleyball team split its Saturday doubleheader against Monroe University (Bronx) and Nassau Community College. The Mustangs kicked off the day with a straight-set victory (25-10, 25-15, 25-13) over the Express before falling to the Lions in a five-set (15-25, 25-20, 25-20, 21-25, 14-16) thriller.
Across the two games, freshman
Santiago Valenca led the way with 31 kills for the Mustangs.
Game one against the Express was a breeze for Monroe. It was an all-around terrific match as the team clinched its fourth straight straight-set victory. Freshman
Glenn Gandarillas paced Monroe with 11 kills, while fellow freshman
Erick Concepcion recorded 18 assists.
All in all, the team racked up 32 kills, including 14 on a 52.2% clip in set two.
Game two against Nassau was a dog fight once again, with the Lions coming out on top.
While the Mustangs fell in set one, they responded by taking a 2-1 match lead thanks to 26 kills across sets two and three, including a 17-kill third set that saw them convert on a third of their chances.
Valenca and Gandarillas did their thing offensively, while Concepcion set them up nicely with a career-high 27 assists. But in the end, Nassau took home set four before narrowly defeating Monroe in set five to complete the season sweep.
Monroe will close out its regular season with a rematch against Borough of Manhattan Community College on Saturday, March 22, at 2:00 pm.
ABOUT THE ATHLETIC PROGRAM AT MONROE UNIVERSITY
The athletic program at Monroe University encompasses a total of 26 teams competing across nine sports. There are 19 varsity and junior varsity programs, as well as the Monroe University marching band, competing on the New Rochelle campus as the Mustangs (NJCAA Division I). The Monroe Express, based out of the Bronx campus, has seven teams competing at the NJCAA Division III level.
For more information about the Monroe Mustangs, please visit us at
www.MonroeUMustangs.com or follow us on social media: Facebook (
Monroe Mustangs Athletics), Twitter (
@MonroeMustangs) and Instagram (
@monroemustangs).
