WESTBURY, N.Y. - The Sarah Lawrence men's volleyball team fell to the hosting Panthers of Old Westbury on Saturday afternoon, moving to 1-2 in conference play as the Skyline schedule gets into full swing. The Gryphons will look to bounce back with a pair of home matches next week against St. Joseph's Long Island and Mount St. Vincent.

Notable Performers

• Jack Cahill continued a strong first campaign with the Gryphons, totaling 13 kills and six digs
• Theo Black set a season-best mark with 14 digs, adding four assists and an ace
• Alex Xie led the team with 16 assists along with seven digs and four kills

How it Happened

The hosting Panthers jumped ahead early, taking the match's first five points and scoring on seven of the day's first eight rallies. A trio of kills by Xie got SLC on the board, two from Black and one from Ethan Look, but the visitors trailed 8-4. A 6-1 run by the hosts opened up a nine-point advantage, eventually stopped by a Cahill score, but enough to keep the Panthers in control. Cahill added three more kills in the set and Xie combined with Jackson Perhaes for a block, but Old Westbury held on for a dominant 25-10 first-set victory. The second set was a different story, with aces from Look, Black and Aidan Roney helping the Gryphons to a 9-4 lead early. The two teams traded scores for a few rallies before three consecutive blocks by the Panthers brought the hosts within one point midway through the set. The Gryphons responded with three straight scores of their own, including kills by Black and Cahill, but a pair of SLC errors allowed the Panthers to tie the set at 16 moments later. Perhaes responded with a kill to return the lead to SLC, but the next six points went to the hosts and put the Gryphons down five with OW two points away from another set point. A Panther error ensued along with back-to-back Perhaes aces, but another OW kill and a block at the net gave the hosts set point 24-20. Roney stepped up to delay the intermission with back-to-back kills, as the Gryphons drew within one point after an OW error, but the hosts clinched the set with a kill and took a two-sets-to-none lead. The Panthers continued to dominate at the net, using a pair of early-set blocks to take a 6-3 lead in the third set, putting the Gryphons on their heels early. Kills from Kairos Diaz, Cahill and Xie drew the Gryphons back within one as the scoreboard showed 8-9, but eight of the following ten points went to the hosts, and in the blink of an eye the Panthers led 17-10. Look secured a pair of kills to keep the Panthers from fully pulling away, but another four-point swing late gave the hosts match point and OW took a 25-15 third-set victory, moving to 1-0 in conference play.

Up Next

The Gryphons (7-7, Skyline 1-2) will return to action on Thursday, hosting the Golden Eagles of St. Joseph's Long Island for a 7:00 p.m. matchup at the Campbell Sports Center. The team will then end the week with a Saturday-afternoon matchup against Mount Saint Vincent, hosting the Dolphins at noon in an important Skyline contest.