Purchase, NY - The John Jay men's volleyball team returned to the court on Tuesday evening, traveling north to Westchester County to take on the Purchase College Panthers for the tenth consecutive season.
The Bloodhounds eyed a bounce back from a weekend split at Bard College, notching the season's fifth consecutive win against Mount Saint Vincent before falling to the hosts.
John Jay was off to another strong start at Purchase on Tuesday evening, taking the first two sets by at least six points. The Panthers stormed back to take the next two before holding on for the fifth set win to clinch the match.
Nick Fuentes and
Adam Bainey led the way for the Bloodhounds with a combined 30 kills.
SET ONE: John Jay 25 | Purchase 19
The Bloodhounds dominated the opening stretch of the first set, scoring the first six points.
Nick Fuentes picked up a pair of kills in a 3-1 stretch to help push the lead to 13-8.
The visitors continued extending their lead, hitting .357 with 14 kills and just 4 errors.
Adam Bainey capped off the 25-19 first set win with his fourth kill of the frame. The freshman hit .800 for the set with one solo block.
SET TWO: John Jay 25 | Purchase 16
After trailing to start the second set, the Bloodhounds ripped off a 6-0 run behind three aces from rookie
Omar Alaoui.
They led 15-8 with the set trending in John Jay's favor.
The visitors took advantage of a pair of untimely attack errors by the Panthers in the final points to finish out in a 4-1 run, winning the set 25-16.
Fuentes's kill count climbed to 8 for the match in the second set.
SET THREE: John Jay 25 | Purchase 27
Sitting up two sets, the Bloodhounds brought in a trio of new faces to kick off the third.
One of those new faces,
Maxwell Law, made the most of the change by scoring two aces to kick start a 5-0 streak.
Purchase's Ayden Mercado answered back with three aces of his own, and Channing Williams converted three swings to put the hosts in front.
The Panthers caused problems for the Bloodhounds attack throughout the set, combining for three blocks to John Jay's zero.
The Bloodhounds trailed late in the third set, 21-23, but Fuentes at the net and Bainey at the service line combined to retake the lead.
John Jay's seven reception errors came back to haunt the visitors, including on the penultimate point. The Purchase block secured a fourth set, winning 27-25.
SET FOUR: John Jay 10 | Purchase 25
The same lineup returned to avenge the dropped third set but the Panthers were no match. John Jay managed just five kills with six errors in the fourth frame.
Purchase's Channing Williams caught fire with six kills on seven attempts, leading the charge for their 13 in the set.
SET FIVE: John Jay 15 | Purchase 13
The same group played for redemption in the decisive fifth set.
Fuentes and Atilla Nerette scored kills on three of four points to put the Bloodhounds up 6-5.
The error bug bit the Panthers in the final set, totaling three in a 5-0 run to help give the Bloodhounds an 11-7 advantage.
John Jay sided-out on 50% of their chances in the final ten points to protect their lead, with Bainey providing the punctuation with two final kills.
The 3-2 match win is the seventh straight win for John Jay over Purchase.
Bainey's 16 kills count as a career-high for the rookie, hitting .444 for the night.
Fuentes matched his season-best with 14 kills.
Alaoui recorded his second career multi-ace game with four total.
NEXT UP: The Bloodhounds host CCNY on Thursday, Feb. 20 at 7:00 p.m. for the team's home conference opener.
