BROOKLYN – The fifth-seeded Monroe College – Bronx men's volleyball team fell in its Region 15 Play-In match to Kingsborough Community College, in straight sets, at Kingsborough CC Gymnasium on Tuesday evening. Set scores were 25-14, 25-19, and 25-14. The Wave will take on top-seeded Monroe College – New Rochelle in the semifinal round of the Region 15 Postseason on Saturday afternoon, at the Monroe Athletic Complex, beginning at noon. 
 
Monroe – Bronx has received a bid to compete in the National Invitational which will take place at College of DuPage in Glen Ellyn, Ill. from April 12 through April 14. More details will be announced soon. 
 
The Express (1-21) got off to a good start in the play-in match against the Wave (2-9) as a pair of service aces by freshman setter Wiltor Cubas propelled the Blue and Gold to an early 3-0 lead. Kingsborough scored six of the next seven points to jump out in front. Monroe answered back as a service ace by freshman opposite hitter Elvis Ndubuisi capped off a 3-1 run to put the Express back in front, 9-7. The Wave responded with four unanswered points to jump back ahead. The Express took advantage of a pair of errors from the opposition to tie it up at 11 points apiece. From that point on, Kingsborough took over the set by finishing with a 14-3 run to capture the opening-game victory and a 1-0 lead in the match.
 
Monroe – Bronx got off to another good start in the second set as a kill by freshman middle blocker Mickey Mingo and back-to-back service aces courtesy of first-year middle blocker Jeremy Rivera-Aponte gave the Express a 7-5 benefit. After the Wave scored the next four points to jump in front, Monroe benefited from two errors by Kingsborough to tie it up at nine points apiece. Later in the set, the home team went on a 5-1 run to take a 16-11 benefit. Monroe stuck back with four unanswered points, highlighted by a pair of service aces from Cubas, to pull to within one at 16-15. Kingsborough once again finished the stanza strong by executing a 9-4 blitz to finish the frame and take a 2-0 lead in the play-in match.
 
The Wave had a wire-to-wire lead in the third set to complete the sweep and punch their ticket to the Region 15 Semifinal contest.
 
Leading the way for the Express during the evening was Rivera-Aponte who tallied five kills, two digs, a pair of service aces, and a block. Cubas produced a team-high 10 assists and four service aces, while producing four digs. Mingo provided three kills and a dig. 
 
First-year libero Harold Romero led Monroe on defense with seven digs. Freshman outside hitter Anthony Estevez chipped in with a trio of digs, while adding a kill and an assist. Freshman middle blocker Shain Frazier added two digs, a kill, and a block. Ndubuisi also provided two digs. Rookie middle blocker Marvin Culmer tallied one kill, a block, and a dig. 
 
For the Wave, freshman middle blocker Levan Sulkhanishvili slammed home a match-high 15 kills and scored three service aces. Rookie outside hitter Kirill Syroegin had a double-double with 23 assists and 11 service aces, while helping the defense with six digs. 
 
For more information regarding Monroe's status in the National Invitational, head over to MonroeExpress.com as well as our social media channels. 

ABOUT THE ATHLETIC PROGRAM AT MONROE COLLEGE
The athletic program at Monroe College encompasses a total of 31 teams competing across nine sports. There are 21 varsity and junior varsity programs, as well as club men's and women's rugby, the Monroe College marching band, and the newly added esports and men's volleyball programs, 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 Express, please visit us at www.MonroeExpress.com or follow us on social media: Facebook (Monroe Express), Twitter/X (@MonroeExpress), Instagram (@MonroeExpress), and Threads (@MonroeExpress).