New Rochelle, New York - The BMCC men's volleyball team added another major mark to their inaugural 2024 season, clinching the third seed for the first-ever Region XV Men's Volleyball Tournament, earning a split with a four-set victory over Monroe-Bronx (25-21, 25-17, 22-25, 25-18) before falling top seed Monroe College in straight sets. The Panther's record stands at 3-7 (3-4 Region XV), allowing the program some much-needed rest for the April 6th, 2024 Region XV Championship, avoiding the play-in game on April 2nd.

Freshman Chong Lin Li (New York, New York) led the Panthers on offense and defense with a game-high 15 kills and tied another with 12 digs for his team-leading second double-double. Classmate Edwin Martinez (Bronx, New York) also unloaded a double-digit kill effort with a career-high 11 kills, and fellow freshman Hugo Paz (Mexico City, Mexico) distributed a game-high and his sixth 20-assist game of the year with 22. Lin Li and classmate Weiduan Jiang (New York, New York) placed a game-best three service aces apiece as the Panthers had 13 in the contest, which was the second most this season. BMCC also had 38 assists, the second most in a single game this season, with Miguel Trejo (Brooklyn, New York) dishing out a career-high nine, Eugene Villarruz (Queens, New York) and Martinez registering three, and Jiang having one.

Villarruz also played a major part on defense, recording his fifth double-digit dig game and second straight with 10 digs. Freshmen Isah Mohammed (Lagos, Nigeria) and Emmanuel Lovingood (Queens, New York) held it down in the front row with a game-high two solo blocks each.

Monroe Bronx jumped out to a quick 10-5 lead, their biggest in the opening set, then squandered it as seven on the next nine points occurred on three service and two attack errors along with a bad set and ball handling error, tying the game at 12. The Express would go back in front 14-12 on back-to-back points on a Paz service error and a Wiltor Cubas service ace and hold a two-point advantage 19-17, six points away from taking the opening set. The Panthers would finish the set with a furious 8-2 run, tying it at 19 and 20 on a Lovingood kill and a bad set from the Express. Then Martinez and Lin Li ended the set with back-to-back kills, powering the Panthers to a 25-21 victory.

After both teams traded the first 14 points of the second set, the Panthers used a 12-4 run to stretch their lead to eight, 19-11, capitalizing on two attack errors and a service ace from Trejo. The Express scored five of the following seven points to get within five, 21-16, on a Villarruz attack error. BMCC scored four of the set's final five points, capped off by a Lin Li service ace to take the first two games with a 25-17 second set victory.

Both squads traded the first eight points of the set, then BMCC scored five of the next eight points to get a 9-7 lead on an attack error by Juan Arias before Monroe-Bronx went on a 6-1 run to lead 13-10 on a Jiang hitting error. Jiang's service ace helped the Panthers cap off a 4-1 run to knot it up at 14, and after both teams were gridlocked at 16, the Express scored four straight points to grab a 20-16 lead on a Rivera-Aponte kill. BMCC scored five of the following seven points to re-grab the lead 22-21 on a Lin Li smash, but Monroe-Bronx wouldn't go away, scoring the final four points of set number three to force a fourth game with a 25-22 victory.

Monroe-Bronx continued their strong finish to the third set by grabbing eight of the first 12 points of set number four to lead 8-4. BMCC roared back with six of the following nine points to get within one, 11-10 on a Lovingood kill. After a Paz service error gave the Express another two-point lead of 13-11, the Panthers picked up five straight points on a Lin Li kill to tie it at 13 and a pair of service aces from Martinez to give BMCC a 14-13 lead and extend it 15-13 and 16-13 courtesy of an Express attack error. Monroe-Bronx got within two twice, 16-14 and 17-15, but wouldn't get any closer as BMCC closed out the match with an 8-3 run to take the fourth set by the score of 25-18.

Jeremy Aponte-Rivera led the Express offense with a team-high eight kills, and Wiltor Cubas gave out a team-best 19 assists while Juan Arias led Monroe-Bronx defensively with a game-best tied 12 digs.

Edwin Martinez (Bronx, New York) led the Panther's offense in game two against the Monroe College Mustangs with a team-high seven kills, while classmate Hugo Paz (Mexico City, Mexico) dished out a team-high 15 assists. Fellow freshman Eugene Villarruz (Queens, New York) led the BMCC defense with a game-high 10 digs.

Arnau Riu Giralt led the Mustangs with a game-high eight kills, Timothy Reyes handed out a game-best 28 assists, and Arthur Rosa led the backcourt with a team-high seven digs.

The Panthers will look to close out the season .500 in Region XV play in their home and season finale on Thursday, March 28 at 6 p.m. at BMCC Gymnasium in New York, New York. For more information, visit the BMCC Men's Volleyball Schedule Page.

Notables
- The Panthers are in the top ten nationally in four categories going into their season final ranking third in service aces per set (2.50), seventh and eighth in kills per set (9.13), and assists per set (8.25) while being ninth in digs per set (9.81).
- Freshman Chong Lin Li (New York, New York) is tops in Region XV in kills per set at 3.13 while that average is also good for seventh nationally. He is also third in the Region in hitting percentage (.221).
- Freshman Eugene Villarruz (Queens, New York) is tops in Region XV in digs per set at 3.56 while that average is also good for sixth nationally.
- Freshmen Hugo Paz (Mexico City, Mexico) and Isah Mohammed (Lagos, Nigeria) are both second in Region XV in assists per set (6.72) and blocks per set (0.77), while Emmanuel Lovingood (Queens, New York) is third in service aces per set (0.72).

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