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Sarah Lawrence College Athletics

The Official Athletics Website of Sarah Lawrence College
WVB 2023
2
Sarah Lawrence SLC 14-11,7-4 Skyline
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Winner Farmingdale St. FSC 13-10,9-2 Skyline
Sarah Lawrence SLC
14-11,7-4 Skyline
2
Final
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Farmingdale St. FSC
13-10,9-2 Skyline
Winner
Set Scores
Team 1 2 3 4 5 F
Sarah Lawrence SLC 25 20 25 18 7 (2)
Farmingdale St. FSC 17 25 22 25 15 (3)

Game Recap: Women's Volleyball | | Zach Perbeck

Gryphons and Rams Battle in Five-Set Quarterfinal Thriller

FARMINGDALE, N.Y. - The Sarah Lawrence women's volleyball team and the Farmingdale State Rams battled through five sets of play on Tuesday night in a Skyline quarterfinal matchup at Nold Hall. The Rams emerged with a narrow 3-2 victory and advanced to the conference's semifinals to take on undefeated and top-seeded Manhattanville on Thursday.

Top Performers
  • Athena Kazos led the team with 21 kills and added 19 digs in an impressive effort
  • Senior libero Kaille Ferguson paced all players with 24 digs in addition to five assists
  • Fellow senior Tabitha Hardin Zollo was second on the team with 20 digs in the losing effort
  • Senior setter Mia Rector totaled 33 assists while racking up 12 digs of her own on the evening

How it Happened

The Gryphons started off hot, controlling play in the first set and getting ahead 4-1 thanks to a Hardin Zollo service ace and kills by both Kazos and junior Georgi Massey. After three more Kazos kills, the Gryphons found themselves ahead 10-4 and squarly in control. After two Farmingdale points, Kazos brought the momenutm back with two points herself before Carolyn Kelly and Raegan Lacombe both joined her in the kill column to give the Gryphons a commanding 15-6 lead. The two teams traded points for the most part as the set progressed, with SLC maintaining their sizable lead. Kelly would rack up another kill to give the Gryphons set point and after a service error, the Rams would have a ball-handling error to give SLC a 25-16 first-set victory.

The second set started off with two SLC points on a Mia Rector service ace and a subsequent kill by the Montgomery, N.J. native, but this time the Rams would answer back. A four-point swing that include one of Kalena Ricketts's match-high 26 kills would bring the energy in the room back to the side of the hosts. After two Ram errors, the set was tied once more but Ricketts would give Farmingdale the lead once again and after an SLC error a kill by Kaleigh Farrell would give the Rams a 7-4 lead. Massey and Kazos would earn back-to-back points for Sarah Lawrence and an FSC setting error would tie the score once again. Rocketts would strike once again two rallies later, this time with a service ace to give the Rams another three-point lead. The two sides would then trade service errors before the Gryphons benefitted from an FSC mix-up to reduce the lead to two. Two straight FSC kills returned the lead to four and after trading attack errors the Rams maintained their lead. Ricketts tallied a kil and a block assist in the next three plays as the Rams asserted themselves with a 17-10 lead and threatened to tie the match at one set apiece. Another Massey kill and two more service errors by the Rams would follow with an SLC error in between and the lead was reduced to five, but two more kills by Ricketts and another block assist alongside Farrell would give the Rams a 22-13 lead and foreshadow a long match to come. After another Ricketts kill and service ace, a 24-14 lead by the Rams seemed to secure the set, but kills by Kazos, Massey and Kelly alongside three Massey service aces would bring the score to 20-24. Despite the late-set run, the Farmingdale lead would prove too much to overcome as an FSC kill sealed the 25-20 set victory.

The third set started off as a back-and-forth affair, with neither team gaining more of a three-point lead throughout the entirety of the set. The Rams inched ahead 13-10 thanks to back-to-back kills by Madeline Stanley and the aforementioned Ricketts, but three attack errors by the duo would follow and tie the game back up at 13. Kazos would answer all FSC scoring runs with kills of ther own and keep the Gryphons in the set, eventually breaking a 19-19 tie to give the visitors a lead. After forcing an FSC attack error, the Rams would score to keep the SLC lead at one but two more consequent errors would give Sarah Lawrence a 23-20 lead. Stanley would bring the lead to two and an SLC setting error reduced it to just one point but Kazos once again would stop the bleeding with a kill of her own and a Mia Rector service ace would seal the set and give Sarah Lawrence a 2-1 lead heading into the fourth set.

The Rams took control of the first set early, with Ricketts leading the charge. The senior had three early-set kills to give the Rams a 5-2 lead but once again Kazos would take a pass from Rector and find open court to stop the scoring run and give the Gryphons some momentum. A Skyler Kawecki-Muonio service ace would follow and a kill by Carolyn Kelly would help grant the Gryphons a 7-5 lead a few rallies later. The Rams would tie the contest at seven after an SLC error and the two teams would trade points to tie again at 8-8, 9-9, 10-10, 11-11 and 12-12. The Rams would break the streak by pulling ahead 12-14 but a well-timed Georgi Massey kill reduce the lead to just one point. The Rams then proceeded to score twice for every SLC point, getting ahead 18-14 moments later and threatening to take the match to a deciding fifth set. An FSC attack error would return service to Sarah Lawrence and Kelly would once again find the ground for a kill to reduce the lead to two points. Four straight Farmingdale points on three service aces would swing the momentum fully to the Rams and despite a late-set kill by Raegan Lacombe, the Rams would take the set 25-18 and push the quarterfinal match to a fifth set.

The fifth set started with an SLC error but Farmingdale would return the favor on the next serve to tie the score at 1-1. After another Ricketts kill it would by Massey to respond with a kill of her own before a four-point swing put the Gryphons behind 2-6. A block by Kelly and Kazos and a kill by the latter would reduce the lead to two but the Rams would stay ahead, with Ricketts leading the charge with kills and a service ace to maintain their lead. Another kill by Kelly and an FSC service error brought the Gryphons within three, but five straight points would go to teh Rams as they would close out the set 15-7 and advance to take on top-seeded Manhattanvilee in a semifinal matchup on Thursday.

The Gryphons wrap up their season with an 14-11 mark in the regular season and an impressive 7-4 record in conference play. They set program-best marks in overall wins and conference wins as an NCAA-participating team and returned to the Skyline tournament in coach John Carroll's first season at the helm.