Old Westbury, NY (Oct. 9-10) – From a wins and losses perspective, this weekend wasn't kind to the Purchase College women's volleyball team. But when you look at the bigger picture and understand how the team is building for the future, Purchase's performance against some of the conference's best, shows great improvement.

The Panthers held their own Friday night against the defending Skyline Champions, Sage, falling 3-0 in a match in which the final set scores were very close. The Panthers dropped both ends of their tri-match at Old Westbury Saturday, losing to host OW and St. Joseph's College-LI. Against OW, Purchase lost 25-17, 25-18 and 25-18. SJC won 25-7, 25-14 and 25-12.

Against Sage, Purchase was hot out of the game, taking a 13-5 lead in the first set. Olivia Hintz (SO/East Aurora, NY) led the Panthers with eight kills and was tied with rookie Taylor Edelmann (FR/Bethel, CT) for the team-lead in defensive digs (10). Purchase also got some veteran leadership from Erika Stahl (JR/Mahopac, NY), who played exceptional well throughout the match on both sides of the net; starting two Panther rallies while at the serve. Stahl and Michelle Fetky (JR/Lake Ronkonkoma, NY) were the only two Panthers with a service ace on offense, and a solo block on defense.

Sage remained undefeated at 4-0 in conference play after defeating Purchase 25-20, 25-16 and 25-22.
Fetky paced Purchase against St. Joseph's, recording a team-high six kills. She also led the Panthers against Old Westbury, notching four kills in defeat. Stahl and Edelmann finished with eight and nine defensive digs, respectively against SJC. Edelmann totaled 14 digs against OW, with the team registering 38 for the match. Setter Mickaela Olson (SO/Glen Cove, NY) played well Saturday, totaling 14 assists against the Golden Eagles and 12 in the match against OW.

If the Panthers can maintain their leads and play with the same energy against future opponents, they might even sneak into the playoffs this fall.

Purchase travels to SUNY Maritime Tuesday, looking to get back on track in conference.