SJC Long Island’s men’s volleyball defeated SUNY Purchase with a 3-0 win in the Danzi Center Saturday afternoon, earning the team its second-straight Skyline Conference Championship.
“The most important things that helped us to this win are our team chemistry and grit,” senior Matthew Amberge said. “If one was to watch our practices from start to finish, they would see a team of players just competing from start to finish. No matter the drill, everyone is there to get better, and it shows. It is these intangible factors that do not show up in any scorecard that truly define the identity of SJC men’s volleyball that we created three years ago.”
Amberge, who has played volleyball for nine years, led the Golden Eagles with 14 kills, earning the championship’s Most Outstanding Player award.
“Receiving the Most Outstanding Player Award felt like a cultivation of all the hard work I have put in over the years being recognized and rewarded,” the Bellmore, New York, resident said. “It is one thing to come in and work every day at practice and dedicate tons of time to becoming a better player and knowing, myself, that I was good and getting better every day. However, it is entirely different to receive that same notion from other people who see the end result of all that hard work and hold it in the same regard I do.”
The team goes up against Endicott College in the first round of the NCAA Division III Tournament Friday, April 19, at 6:30 p.m. in Beverly, Massachusetts.
Two days after claiming the @SkylineConfD3 title for the second-straight year, #SJCLI men’s volleyball drew @EndicottMVB in the first round of the @NCAADIII Tournament! #flywithus #GoldenEra #d3vb pic.twitter.com/yu08TjDevu
— SJC Golden Eagles (@GoldenEaglesSJC) April 15, 2019
For more coverage of Saturday’s game, click here.
