BRONXVILLE, N.Y. - After falling down two sets to none, the Sarah Lawrence men's volleyball team rallied to take the third set handedly by a score of 25-15 but it would not be enough as the Gryphons would fall to the Purchase College Panthers on senior day by a final score of three sets to one. Prior to the match, the Gryphons celebrated seniors Lance De Leoz, Juan Paris, Desmond Luck and Desmond Luck for their contributions to the men's volleyball program throughout their times at Sarah Lawrence.

By the Numbers

• Massey continued his impressive play this season by leading the Gryphons in kills once again, this time with a match-high 17 to give him his second career 160+ kill season, besting his 161-kill campaign in 2020
• Fellow senior De Leoz led the Gryphons with an impressive 20-assist performance in addition to his two service aces
• Much like the rest of the season, Paris did a little of everything for Sarah Lawrence with five assists, two service aces, a solo block and 11 digs

How it Happened

The Panthers and Gryphons remained close throughout the beginning of the opening set, with neither squad able to pull away by more than a point until a four-score run by the Panthers vaulted them into the lead by a tally of 11-7. From that point on they would go on three runs of three or more points to power them ahead of the Gryphons and the visitors would eventually take the set 25-15.

In the second set, the Panthers would use an 8-0 run just a few rallies into the set to take a commanding 10-3 lead but the Gryphons would answer with their own runs, much like the Panthers did in the first set. Three runs of three or more scores would keep the Gryphons neck-and-neck with the Panthers and after a setting violation by Purchase, the Gryphons would find themselves ahead 20-19. Two consecutive attack errors would give the Panthers the lead once again and despite the impressive comeback by the Gryphons, the visiting Panthers would take four of the final six points of the set to claim a daunting 2-0 lead.

Very similarly to how the Panthers took control of the second set, the Gryphons would jump out to an early lead in the third set and use that cushion to hold the lead. After opening the set up by a score of 7-2, the Gryphons used key kills from Massey and Ralph Calle-Schulz to keep ahead and two late-set service aces from Massey sealed the set victory for the Gryphons as they did not trail in the set and brought the score to 2-1 after a 25-15 set victory.

The fourth set would look to be a continuation of the third as Massey opened the set with two straight kills and the Gryphons seemed poised to force a deciding fifth set. Purchase's Luca Spadinger and Marcus Garguilo would answer, tallying kills on three of the next five rallies to give the Panthers a 4-3 lead and erase the momentum that Massey and the Gryphons had built early in the set. While the Gryphons kept the game close, it would be a 4-0 run for Purchase, on three Sarah Lawrence attack errors, that would give the Panthers an 8-5 lead, which they would hold for the remainder of the set. After another kill by Spadinger would put the visitors up 14-8, the Gryphons would embark on a four-point run bookended by kills from Massey and Derek Hickman, but it would not be enough as the Panthers would tally three service aces through the end of the set to keep ahead of Sarah Lawrence and claim the 25-19 set victory and overall 3-1 victory in the match.


Up Next

The Gryphons will return to action on Tuesday April 4th when they travel to Mount Saint Vincent for a 7:00 p.m. match before ending their 2023 season in Mwapah, N.J. to take on the Roadrunners of Ramapo.