BRONXVILLE, N.Y.—In the team's opening matches of 2013, Sarah Lawrence College women's volleyball split its day's contests, defeating Medgar Evers, 3-1, before falling to Culinary Institute of America, 3-0, at Noyes Court at Campbell Sports Center on Saturday. Both matches were the team's first league matches as part of the newly-formed Hudson Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Conference.

In the first match of the day, Sarah Lawrence (1-1, 1-1 HVIAC) played a back-and-forth opening set against Medgar Evers (0-2, 0-1 HVIAC). The set saw 11 ties and six lead changes until the Gryphons were able to seal the win, 26-24.

Medgar Evers started the second set on a 3-0 run, but the Gryphons reeled in their opponents quickly. SLC took the lead for good at 13-12 and had a five-point lead at 22-17. Despite a late Cougar rally, Sarah Lawrence took a 2-0 lead in the match with a 25-23 set.

The third set saw SLC lead early at 5-2, but a 16-4 run by Medgar Evers gave the visitors a daunting nine-point advantage at 18-9. Though the Gryphons closed the gap to three points at 24-21, a MEC kill sealed the 25-21 set.

SLC regained momentum in the fourth set and stormed to an insurmountable 17-3 advantage. Medgar Evers scored eight of nine points to cut the margin at 24-16 before the Gryphons sealed the win in their season opener with a 25-16 set.

Junior Kitty O'Sullivan (Los Angeles, Calif./Flintridge Sacred Heart Academy) led all players with 12 kills and chipped in match-highs with nine digs and five service aces. Setter Janet Tonyan (McHenry, Ill./McHenry) assisted on 12 kills for the Green and White. For Medgar Evers, Kalifa Roberts led the way with 10 kills, and four aces. Janiece Hill posted nine digs, and Beatrice Bonhomme also had a team-high four aces. Setter Nina-Bernadin White had 13 assists and eight digs.

In the day's second match, Culinary (2-0, 1-0 HVIAC) swept Medgar Evers, 3-0 (25-15, 25-9, 25-10), in a non-conference match. Hill had seven kills for Medgar Evers, while CIA's Emily Brown also tallied seven kills.

Against Culinary, Sarah Lawrence crept to a 5-2 lead in the opening set, but an 8-0 CIA run gave the Steels a 10-5 edge. SLC struggled to find its footing and dropped the set, 25-15.

In the second set, the Gryphons again took an early three-point lead, but a 16-3 stretch yielded a 17-7 score in favor of the visitors. Culinary went on to steal the second set, 25-13.

The match's final set saw Culinary use a 6-1 run to double-up SLC at 24-12, but effective serving from rookie Yolanda Lyne Cando (Arlington, Va./H-B Woodlawn) gave the Gryphons a six-point rally for a silver lining of the 25-18 set.

O'Sullivan's contributions were again statistically valuable, as she led the offense with seven kills and picked up a match-high 13 digs on defense.  Jomana Abdallah (Los Angeles, Calif./Fairmont Prep Academy) pitched in four kills and seven digs, while Clarisse Taboy (Ras Tanura, Saudi Arabia/George School) notched three service aces, and Tonyan assisted on 14 points.

For Culinary, LaRae Willis led all players with eight kills, and Emily Brown and Cheyenne Langis shared a team-high seven digs. Setter Kristin McGinn posted 22 assists.

Sarah Lawrence hits the road for its next match. The Gryphons will travel to Brooklyn College on Monday for a 7:30 p.m. match.