BRONXVILLE, N.Y. - The Sarah Lawrence women's volleyball team took down the Bard Raptors in three straight sets on Thursday night at the Campbell Sports Center. The Gryphons won the first and third sets by scores of 25-22 while the middle set went to 28 points as the teams battled back-and-forth throughout the majority of the set.

Notable Performers

• First Year setter Sophia Costa racked up 32 assists in addition to a pair of block assists and eight deals
• Nikolet Vataj led the offense with 16 kills, adding in nine digs
• Athena Kazos led the team with 13 digs, adding nine kills
• Brynn Beck put up double-digit digs alongside six kills

How it Happened

In the opening frame, the Gryphons set the tone early as Kazos ripped back-to-back kills to spark a 5-3 start. The Gryphons managed to maintain a slight advantage throughout the remainder of the set, and a clutch kill from Vataj secured a first-set victory for the Gryphons, setting the tone for the remainder of the match. The second set proved to be the most dramatic of the night, featuring eight ties and numerous lead changes. After a 10-10 tie, the Gryphons took six consecutive points highlighted by back-to-back kills by Beck and Olivia Richard. Bard erased the mid-set SLC lead to tie the set at 21, but Sarah Lawrence dug deep, leaning on it's all-conference hitter to break the deadlock. Kazos converted on a pair of kills to bring the team to set point before a Bard error gave the hosts a 28-26 set victory and a decisive 2-0 lead in the match. Carrying that energy into the third set, the Gryphons weathered an early Bard push before pulling away late. After the visitors took a 19-18 lead, SLC took six of the next seven points, including a double block by Jenna Lenhart and Costa and a pair of scores by Vataj to reach match point. A pair of Bard kills delayed the victory, but the Costa-to-Vataj connection proved to be too strong, as the Gryphons secured the victory in straight sets.

Up Next

The Gryphons (2-4) will return to action on Saturday as they host Curry College and the University of Saint Joseph for a home tri-match starting at 10:00 a.m. The Gryphons will battle with Curry in the opener before wrapping up the day against the Blue Jays with a 2:00 p.m. start.