Box Score - WestConn
Box Score - Manhattanville

Purchase, NY (Aug. 29, 2014) – The Purchase College women's volleyball team opened the fall campaign with a pair of road contests.

The Panthers started the season at Western Connecticut State University with a 3 p.m. start, falling 3-0 (25-9, 25-10, 25-12) before capping the season's first day at neighboring Manhattanville. The Valiants also came away with a win, taking that match 3-0 (25-19, 25-13, 25-14).

In the day's first match, Western got the 2014 season off to a fast start, scoring the first eight points of the first set. The strong start propelled the hosts to their first win. WestConn will post two victories on the evening. The team was paced by Karissa Smith and Heather Williams, who both finished with seven kills apiece against Purchase.

The Panthers were led by returner Sarah Gabler (SO/East Concord, NY) and her four kills.

Gabler led the offense and Victoria Blum (SO/Bronx, NY), a newcomer, followed with three kills.

Captain Alex Lally (SO/Sunnyvale, TX) was strong blocking in the middle with two solo blocks and five block assists for a total of seven blocks.

While losing 3-0 to a strong and deep Colonials squad, the Panthers showed improvement throughout the match, improving their point total in each game.

Against Manhattanville, freshman Julia Chirlin (FR/Albany, NY) paced the offense with seven kills and two aces.

Gabler was also strong in the second match of the day, adding six kills and 12 digs.

Meanwhile, Lally again had her hands on a lot of hits, getting two more blocks in the match while dishing out 11 assists and seven digs as well.

The Valiants used a balanced offensive attack to take out the Panthers in straight sets, hitting .235 as a team with 19 service aces. Manhattanville junior Jillian Chittenden led all players with eight kills without an error, hitting a stellar .615 for the evening.

The Panthers resume play Saturday at the Colonial Invitational.

-WestConn and Manhattanville Sports Information Contributed to this report