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NEW YORK—After advancing to the league championship in only its second year as a varsity program, Sarah Lawrence College men's volleyball fell to Yeshiva University, 3-0, in the title match of the 2013 Hudson Valley Men's Athletic Conference Volleyball Championship at the Furst Gymnasium on Thursday.

Earlier in the day, third-seeded Sarah Lawrence (7-17) defeated No. 2 St. Joseph's College Brooklyn (7-14) by a 3-1 margin to earn a spot in the title match.

In the Gryphon's semifinal match against St. Joseph's, Sarah Lawrence jumped out to a 9-4 lead in the opening set, and a 4-0 run expanded the advantage at 16-9. St. Joseph's chipped away at the deficit and narrowed the gap to one at 23-22, but a service ace by setter Brent Terry (Crownpoint, N.M., Idyllwild Arts Academy) sealed the 25-22 opening set.

The second set saw 10 tied scores and three lead changes as the teams dueled to 18-18. From there, the Bears caught fire, scoring eight of the set's last nine points en route to a 25-19 set to level the match at one set apiece.

St. Joseph's looked to be in firm control of the third set when the Bears led 23-18, two points from winning the set. Four straight Gryphon points narrowed the difference at 23-22 but St. Joseph's creeped ahead 24-22. Sarah Lawrence fought off two set points to tie the score at 24-24, and the Gryphons stonewalled the Bears three more times as the Green and White won 30-28. Sophomore Harrison Holmes (Rancho Cucamonga, Calif., Webb School) led the SLC attack, pounding home eight kills in the third set.

The Bears again took early control in the fourth set with St. Joseph's leading, 18-12. Sarah Lawrence crept back and scored five unanswered points to equalize at 21-21. In the end, three straight Gryphon points sealed the match as Sarah Lawrence won 25-23 to advance to the championship match.

In the semifinal, Holmes led the Gryphons with 17 kills followed by Ishaan Pujari (Bangalore, India, Inventure Academy) with 16. Terry had a double-double with 40 assists and 11 digs, while libero Riley Smith (West Linn, Ore., Palo Alto (Calif.)) anchored the defense with 15 digs. Holmes match his season-high with five blocks, all solo. Rookie Chris Manfugas (Teaneck, N.J., Teaneck) had six kills and nine digs.

St. Joseph's hitter Raul Urshela had 24 kills in the match, and Martin Torres had 23. Three Bears had double-digit digs, including Torres with 11. Attack errors proved fateful in the match, as the Bears totaled 28 mistakes to only 18 by Sarah Lawrence.

Looking for the team's first-ever HVMAC Volleyball title, Sarah Lawrence squared off against top-seeded Yeshiva (13-18) in the championship match. The Maccabees won the opening five points of the match and reached a double-digit lead at 21-11 en route to a 25-14 first set.

The second set saw Sarah Lawrence hang close and take a lead at 9-8; however, Yeshiva quickly sprang back into the lead. With a 12-11 lead, the Maccabees scored eight of nine points to go in front, 20-12 before Yeshiva closed the second set, 25-14.

Yeshiva won eight straight points to lead the third set, 8-1. Later, a 7-1 run put Yeshiva in front 22-10, and the regular-season champions won their second HVMAC title with a 25-15 set.

Holmes was held to just eight kills in the championship match, and Pujari was limited to seven. Smith totaled seven digs followed by Terry with six digs and 20 assists. Manfugas posted five digs and five kills.

Yeshiva's Daniel Lapson led all players with 16 kills, while Menachem Goldstein tallied 11. As a team, the Maccabees kills outnumbered the Gryphons' 40-22.

Following the tournament, six-time HVMAC Player of the Week Holmes was named to the league's All-Conference team.

Sarah Lawrence concluded with a marked improvement on their 3-14 finish in 2012. In their second season as a varsity program, the Gryphons advanced to the title match in their first appearance in the HVMAC tournament.