Box Score Purchase, NY
(Sept. 10, 2014) – The Purchase College women's volleyball team struck first Wednesday night, but Lehman chipped away and pulled out a 3-1 (14-25, 25-22, 25-17, 25-23) win in the Panthers' home opener.
Purchase (1-8) captured the opening set 25-14, navigating around a back-and-forth start. The set was tied early, 3-3, and later 10-10, but the hosts sprinted midway through the set for an impressive victory in game one.
Lehman (3-6) set the pace in the second set as Purchase fell behind early, 15-10. The Panthers closed the gap on the serve of captain
Alex Lally (SO/Sunnyvale, TX), 15-12. Lehman then fired back, putting together three straight points to increase the margin to 18-13. The two teams traded points, with Lehman extending to 20-17 and shortly later, taking the second set, 25-22.
With the match tied at 1-all, Lehman swung the contest in its favor in the third set. Following a hard-fought effort in game two, the Lightning used the momentum from set two to take a three-point advantage late in the set, 19-16, before closing the door in a 25-17 win.
However, the Panthers did not go quietly. Purchase traded points in the fourth set and nearly forced the fifth and decisive set, falling 25-13 in the fourth. Purchase trailed 7-1 in the final set, but rallied to tie it, 7-7, and then, 9-9, as the see-saw affair continued through the 20s. In the end, Lehman edged Purchase in one final set for a 3-1 win. Lehman had previously defeated Purchase on Sept. 3 by the same score (3-1).
The visitors were led by Cari English (16 kills), Salveira Gonzalez (10 kills) and Imani Dubois (32 assists, seven service aces).
Lally led Purchase with 14 kills and 16 assists.
Sarah Gabler (SO/East Concord, NY) added eight kills and shared the match high of 17 digs with teammate
Jenna Nardi (SR/Yorktown Heights, NY).
Julia Chirlin (FR/Albany, NY),
Elizabeth Villegas (JR/Pleasantville, NY) and
Victoria Blum (SO/Bronx, NY) also played well in the matchup, despite the outcome.
Purchase returns to action this weekend in the Panther Invitational, hosting five other programs both Saturday and Sunday.
