BENNINGTON, Vt. - The Southern Vermont men's volleyball team not only broke a 32 match losing streak Friday night; they swept St. Joseph College (N.Y.) in a rare doubleheader. The Mountaineers only lost one set on the night winning 3-1 (27-30, 30-27, 30-23, 30-23) in the first match and a 3-0 (30-26, 30-24, 33-31) sweep in the second.

Southern Vermont improved to 2-12 overall while the Bears remain winless at 0-6. The wins were the first for Head Coach Tim Cole since being hired in January.

Middle blockers Joe Karnik and Cameron Herrington led the attack for SVC with setter Ricky Harrington posting a career night with 22 and 21 assists.

Karnik connected with Harrington on most of his 33 total kills on the night. The transition from basketball to volleyball has been a smooth one as the junior leads the team with 55 total kills while hitting .333 in 17 sets.

"Joe was dominant at the net, and Ricky did a nice job feeding him," Coach Cole said. "Any time that your middles are productive it is a credit to your passing and setting."

Herrington hit well with 11 total kills but had a breakout from the service line cashing in 11 aces in the doubleheader.

"Cam was, oh boy, he was something tonight," said Coach Cole. "Early in the first match he made the tough decision to get more aggressive with his serving and attacking. He stuck with it through a few errors, and the reward was worth the risk." 

The Mountaineers had 33 total aces on the night far surpassing the 30 total aces they had accumulated in the first 12 matches before Friday.

Matt Schwab and Neel Patel had 13 total aces giving Southern Vermont a lot of opportunities to attack the ball with good placement on their serves.

"Matt and Neel did a nice job for us from the service line tonight," added Coach Cole.

St. Joseph's put up a good fight trading the lead back and forth with SVC throughout the night. Jon Matzelle, who had 12 kills, led the Bear's attack and he served well from the line. Defensively Ed Han and Maciej Sadowski finished with 15 and 14 digs respectively.

Southern Vermont was led defensively by outside hitter / middle blocker Aaron Eschler who had 21 total digs. Eschler also had a powerful hit into the net that rolled its way up and over for a much needed kill in the set of the night. He finished with 8 kills and 5 assists.

Libero Ryan Heron had the toughest job of the night receiving over 60 serves from the Bears and only recording 4 serve receive errors. He also finished with 18 digs.

The matches started at 7:30 p.m. and the night was not over much before 11:30 p.m. making for a late night for both squads. Regardless Southern Vermont remained focused winning the final set in an epic 33-31 set overtime to seal the victory and give them a two game winning streak.

"It was a long night, and I'm proud of the team for supporting each other and staying tuned in to the match and what we needed to do," Coach Cole said. "They deserve to feel great about their performance."

The Mountaineers will have time to rest as spring break begins next week for SVC. They are hosting NECC foe Elms College Wednesday, March 18 at 7:00 p.m.