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Lucas Buckley MVB 2025
Luca Mesiti
3
Winner New Jersey City NJCU 8-6,3-0 Skyline
1
Sarah Lawrence SLC 6-5,1-2 Skyline
Winner
New Jersey City NJCU
8-6,3-0 Skyline
3
Final
1
Sarah Lawrence SLC
6-5,1-2 Skyline
Set Scores
Team 1 2 3 4 F
New Jersey City NJCU 25 25 30 29 (3)
Sarah Lawrence SLC 14 15 32 27 (1)

Game Recap: Men's Volleyball | | Zach Perbeck

Men's Volleyball Battles NJCU in a Pair of Marathon Sets on Friday Night

BRONXVILLE, N.Y. - The Sarah Lawrence men's volleyball team played a pair of marathon sets in Friday night's conference contest with NJCU. The Gryphons took the match's third set 32-30 before the Gothic Knights secured their 3-1 win with a 29-27 fourth-set victory.

Notable Performers
  • Nate Davis totaled 21 kills while adding two total blocks and six digs
  • Alex Xie racked up 35 assists, 11 digs and three kills
  • Lucas Buckley totaled 11 kills for SLC alongside three aces and eight digs

How it Happened

The first set started with an NJCU run, as the visitors jumped ahead to an 8-3 lead. A trio of SLC kills followed, as each of the aforementioned Gryphons earned points to cut into the lead. The two teams would then trade points before an 8-0 run by NJCU gave the Gothic Knights a 17-7 advantage. Davis would collect three more kills by the end of the set, but NJCU remained firmly in control for a 25-14 first-set victory. The second set was a similar story, with a pair of lengthy NJCU runs swinging the match in favor of the visitors and foreshadowing a three-set victory for the Gothic Knights. Davis and Buckley tallied four kills each in the second set and a late Davis/Nathan Dreger block would not be enough to swing the set in favor of the Gryphons, as a 25-15 victory put the visitors one set away from a match victory.

The third set was a completely different story, as the two teams never found themselves more than three points apart, with an Aiden Roney kill, a Roney/Buckley blocking combo and another Davis kill getting the team ahead early. Buckley would continue his strong play with a pair of aces before another pair of kills by Roney helped the Gryphons stay neck-and-neck with the Gothic Knights. The visitors pulled ahead and remained with a small advantage, but strong play by the Gryphons, including kills by both Xie and Dreger, allowed the team to stick around throughout the set. A pair of SLC errors set up NJCU with a 22-18 advantage before five straight home scores sprung the Gryphons into the lead. The teams would trade points back-and-forth, with key scores by Dreger, Davis and Buckley keeping the set alive. After a service error that tied the set at 30 points apiece, Roney stepped up with two straight aces, giving the Gryphons a 32-30 set victory and forcing a fourth set.

The Gothic Knights once again got ahead early in the fourth set, but the Gryphons would not let them go on set-defining runs like in the first two. Kills by Davis, Nick Fajardo and Buckley kept the Gryphons in it before a Davis/Roney block brought them within one point of the lead. After a three-point swing in favor of the Gothic Knights, another block by Roney, this time with Buckley, returned the momentum to the Gryphons. After a block by NJCU in response, the Gryphons embarked on a 5-0 run bookended by a kill and ace from Buckley. After a short NJCU run, the Gryphons would tie the set up at 18, as roles reversed and Fajardo set Xie for a kill. From that point on, it would be the Nate Davis show for SLC, with the senior totaled six kills in the back half of the set while Roney and Fajardo combined for another block. The two teams remained neck-and-neck until a pair of kills in succession by the visitors gave them a 29-27 victory and sealed their 3-1 win in the match.

Up Next

The Gryphons (6-5, Skyline 1-2) will return to action on Monday in Bronxville as they host the Bears of St. Joseph's Brooklyn for a 7:00 p.m. matchup at the Campbell Sports Center. The team will then travel to Patchogue for a matchup with St. Joseph's Long Island on Wednesday at 7:00 p.m.