Recap courtesy of Sarah Lawrence College Athletics
BRONXVILLE, N.Y.—After rallying from a two-set deficit, Sarah Lawrence College men's volleyball was eventually overcome by Webb Institute, 3-2, in a Hudson Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Conference match at Noyes Court at Campbell Sports Center on Tuesday.
Prior to the match, seniors Brent Terry (Crownpoint, N.M./Idyllwild Arts Academy), Luc Mitchell (Chapel Hill, N.C./East Chapel Hill) and Julian Bonte-Friedheim (Milan, Italy/International School of Milan) were recognized for their contributions to the SLC men's volleyball program.
Webb (2-3, 2-2 HVIAC) took control of the first set, opening up a 16-8 advantage, but Sarah Lawrence (0-23, 0-5 HVIAC) responded to close the gap at 18-16. From there, Webb caught fire and closed out the set for a 25-17 win. Webb also cruised through the second set, 25-15.
Trailing 0-2, SLC picked up its first lead of the match at 5-4 in the third set. The teams dueled back-and-forth to 13 ties and eight lead changes in one of the Gryphons' most tightly-contested sets of the season. The Green and White held a five point lead at 22-17, but Webb sprung back with six straight points to go in front 23-22. After eight tense points, SLC won three straight to close out a 29-27 set to stay alive.
In the fourth set, a six point SLC run gave the Gryphons an early 11-5 edge. Sarah Lawrence kept the momentum going and had little trouble clinching the set, 25-15, evening the team score at 2-2.
The deciding set saw Webb regain its footing and score five unanswered points. The Gryphons closed the gap to one point at 7-6, but Webb answered to go up 12-7 and closed out the match, 15-10.
SLC's Ishaan Pujari (Bangalore, India/Inventure Academy) led all players on offense and defense with 23 kills and 12 digs, earning his fifth double-double of the season. He also had a match-high four service aces.
Sophomore Gryphon Cameron Martinez (Aledo, Texas/Aledo) posted two season bests, landing eight kills while scooping up 10 digs. Rookie setter Nikos Efstratudakis (London, Ontario/American Community School of Athens) notched 27 assists and four digs.
After being held without a dig for the first two sets, libero Terry recorded six in the third set en route to 10 digs in the match. Bonte-Friedheim totaled four digs with two aces, while Mitchell rounded out the senior cohort with a block and an assist.
For Webb, Brian Mills led his team with 14 kills and nine digs. Cody Owen fell one dig shy of a triple-double on 10 kills, 18 assists and nine digs. Co-setter Ilya Mouravieff pitched in 15 assists, while Gabriel Poritz also had a team-high nine digs.
Sarah Lawrence rounds out the regular season with a visit to HVIAC rival St. Joseph's College Brooklyn on Thursday. The Gryphons then travel to Yeshiva University for the 2014 HVIAC Men's Volleyball Championship tournament on April 10.
