FARMINGDALE, N.Y. - The Sarah Lawrence women's volleyball team battled through five tough sets against Farmingdale State College on Tuesday, eventually prevailing for a 15-13 fifth-set victory to push the team to a Skyline semifinal appearance for first time in program history.

Notable Performers

The first set began with the Gryphons getting offensive contributions from their duo of all-conference outside hitters, as a pair of aces by Ferguson and kills from both Kazos and Vataj gave the visitors a slight 4-3 advantage. The pair continued to succeed, giving the Gryphons a 12-9 advantage halfway through the set. The Rams answered with a five-point run, emphasized by a double block to claim a 14-12 lead. The Gryphons immediately responded, with a four-point swing in their favor thanks to a trio of kills by Kazos and Ferguson's third ace of the set. After a lone kill to stop the run by the Rams, Carolyn Kelly would step up with two straight kills, keeping the Gryphons in control with an 18-15 lead. After going back-and-forth, SLC got a new breath of life after a double block by Vataj and Jenna Lehnhart that extended the SLC lead to three an a consequent kill with Vataj gave them a 23-19 advantage. Another kill by Vataj two rallies later gave the Gryphons match point at 24-20 and the two teams would trade service errors to wrap up the set, giving SLC a 25-21 victory and an early one-set advantage.

The second set saw three early scoring runs, as the Rams opened the set with three straight scores before SLC answered with four of their own, thanks to kills from Vataj and Milly Guemple. The Rams then took their turn once again, scoring four times themselves as Delaney Keegan put up a pair of scores. After trading scores, the Rams took eight straight points to claim a 16-6 advantage, threatening to tie the match at one set apiece. Kills from Kazos and Vataj along with a double block by Kazos and Kelly would give the Gryphons scores throughout the remainder of the set, but the Rams would prove to be too strong as they held on for a 25-12 set victory. 

In the third, it appeared that the Rams would continue the momentum that they built up in the second, but the Gryphons would not go down without a fight. The visitors fell behind 9-4 early but Kazos and Vataj combined for 12 kills in the period and a service ace by Vataj would eventually help the Gryphons tie the set at 21 point apiece. After two FSC points, the Gryphons took four straight to claim the set, using a pair of Kazos kills to reach set point before another ace by Ferguson sealed the set and gave the team a chance to close out the match in four sets. 

The Gryphons continued their success, taking the first five points of the fourth set as Ferguson put up another ace and Vataj put up a pair of kills. After a well-called timeout by FSC, the Rams stormed back to take a 10-8 lead and keep the Gryphons at bay. Lehnhart, Kelly, Kazos and Vataj would all register kills and Kelly would earn a solo block to give SLC a mid-point lead, but five straight FSC points gave the Rams a 19-16 lead that they would hold through the end of the set. The Skyline first round matchup between the Gryphons and Rams would head to a fifth set for a second consecutive season at Nold Hall, bringing about a sense of deja vu for all of those who were in attendance last November.

The fifth set started in favor of the hosting Rams, as a solo block by Lauren Offermann gave the Rams a 2-0 lead early on. The Gryphons would once again go back to their all-conference first team outside hitter, as Kazos tied the set at two points following a Farmingdale error. After a service error by SLC, Guemple would step up to tie the set once again and keep the Gryphons in the set. After trading kills once again, the Rams would take four of the next five points to take an 8-5 lead as the teams changed sides. The next play would see Lehnhart and Massey step up for a double block and after another SLC service error, Vataj would register two more kills, reducing the FSC lead to one as the Gryphons trailed 8-9. An SLC block error brought the Rams' lead back to two points but back-to-back kills by Vataj and Kazos tied the set once gain, this time at 10-10. The teams would then trade errors before another kill by the Rams gave them a 12-11 lead. The visitors then embarked on a 3-0 run to claim set point, book-ended by Kazos kills as the Gryphons repeatedly set their offensive leader. Another FSC kill would bring the score to 14-13, but it would once again be Kazos to receive the set, converting once again, but this time to send her team forward to the Skyline Semifinals for the first time in program history.

The Gryphons (17-9, Skyline 7-4) will head to Manhattanville University on Thursday, November 14th to take on the top-ranked Valiants at 7:00 p.m. The winner of Thursday's semifinal matchup will advance to Saturday's Championship Game with an opportunity to secure the conference's automatic bid into the 2024 NCAA Tournament.