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Nikolet Vataj WVB 2024
Luca Mesiti
1
New Jersey City NJCU 1-2,0-0 NJAC
3
Winner Sarah Lawrence SLC 2-1,0-0 Skyline
New Jersey City NJCU
1-2,0-0 NJAC
1
Final
3
Sarah Lawrence SLC
2-1,0-0 Skyline
Winner
Set Scores
Team 1 2 3 4 F
New Jersey City NJCU 25 10 18 11 (1)
Sarah Lawrence SLC 20 25 25 25 (3)

Game Recap: Women's Volleyball | | Zach Perbeck

Women's Volleyball Earns Dominant Victory over NJCU

BRONXVILLE, N.Y. - The Sarah Lawrence women's volleyball team rallied from a first-set loss to defeat the NJCU Gothic Knights by a score of 3-1 on Monday night. The Gryphons moved to 2-1 on the season with the win after splitting their season-opening tri-match last Saturday.

Notable Performers
  • First Year setter Valerie Hertig totaled 30 assists in the victory while adding a pair of service aces and six digs
  • Grad libero Kaille Ferguson led the team with 17 digs while adding five assists as well
  • Athena Kazos posted her second double-double in three matches to start the season, racking up 15 kills and digs in the winning effort
  • First Year outside hitter Nikolet Vataj had double-digit kills with 12, adding in nine digs and two service aces of her own

How it Happened

The start of the first set foreshadowed a long match, as the two teams traded points and kept eachother close. Vataj and Georgi Massey earned kills while Ferguson added a service ace and the Gryphons trailed 6-5 after a back-and-forth few rallies. The Gothic Knights would take the next four points thanks to a pair of kills and a service ace, extending their lead and building up a small cushion. The visitors would stay just out of reach until a six-point swing that ended with a pair of aces allowed them to take a 19-11 lead. The Gryphons would put together a pair of three-point runs in the remainder of the set, but the lead would be too much and the visitors would take a 25-20 first-set victory.

The second set once again seemed to tease a five-set affair, with the team knotted up at one, two, three, four and five points apiece as neither lineup could put together multiple scores. After tying at five points apiece, the Gryphons would turn up the gas, taking the next seven points, with Kazos securing four of the seven via kills and Massey sprinkling in a service ace. The hosts would emerge with a 12-5 lead in hopes of evening the match at one set apiece. Three of the following four points would go to the Gothic Knights, but another seven-point run would get started with an NJCU error and Vataj, Kazos and Kali Gethers would all earn kills and Jenna Lehnhart would get a service ace. SLC would emerge from this run with a 20-8 lead, leaping towards a second-set victory that would tie the match. Another kill from Vataj and one of Hertig's two service aces would help seal the set as the Gryphons rebounded nicely from the first set to the tune of a 25-10 victory.

The Gothic Knights would start hot in the third set, with a pair of service aces and a solo block by Kristen Davis allowing them to grab a 5-2 lead. The Gryphons battled back as Kazos and Massey each earned a pair of kills to swing the score in favor of SLC 6-5. The two teams would go back-and-forth and eventually find themselves knotted up at 13 points apiece, once again foreshadowing a close set and a potentially lengthy match. The Gryphons would not put together a third seven-point run, but this time managed to take eight consecutive points and give themselves a 21-13 lead. The run featured a trio of kills by Massey, a service ace from Vataj and an unassisted kill by Hertig. The lead was enough to keep SLC ahead, as a pair of Kazos kills and a kill by Lehnhart would give the team set point before Vataj granted a 25-18 third-set victory and give the team a chance to close out the match in four sets.

The fourth set started out in favor of the Gryphons, taking four of the first five points and using a Hertig kill and Massey ace to extend their lead to 8-3. There would be no major run in the fourth set, but the Gryphons would take two-to-three points at a time, keeping themselves securely ahead of the Gothic Knights and on track to secure the victory. A double-block by Kazos and Lehnhart energized the Campbell Sports Center and gave the team a 19-10 lead. The visitors responded with a double block of their own to make the score 11-20 just a couple of rallies later but SLC would take the final five points of the match, with Kazos acing on her final two serves to give the team a 25-11 set victory and a 3-1 win in the match.

Up Next

The Gryphons (2-1) return to action at the Campbell Sports Center on Friday, September 6th as they host the Regis College Pride for a 6:00pm non-conference showdown in Bronxville. The Gryphons will look to pick up their third win of the season before Saturday's home tri-math featuring Emmanuel and Lehman.
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