MAHWAH, NJ – The Purchase College men's volleyball team returned to action after more than two weeks off by splitting a pair of Skyline Conference matches at Ramapo College on Sunday. The Panthers opened the day with a tough 3-0 loss to the host Roadrunners but bounced back to defeat Yeshiva University, 3-1, in the final match of the day.

Match 1: Ramapo 3, Purchase 0 (25-6, 25-10, 25-15)
Purchase opened the scoring in the first set on a Thomas Slomka (SR/Orchard Park, NY) kill but the Roadrunners answered back with a 10-0 run to take a commanding 10-1 lead.

Four Panther errors and a pair of Ramapo kills stretched the home team's advantage to 16-3—a deficit too deep for Purchase to overcome in the eventual 25-6 set loss.

After falling behind 5-0 in the second set, the Panthers lit up their side of the board with a pair of unanswered points. A Chris Posillico (SO/Bay Shore, NY) service ace cut the Roadrunner's lead down to three (5-2) but Ramapo fired back with a 6-2 run after knocking down a trio of kills and a service ace. Purchase followed with a run of its own, thanks to the combined offensive effort of Posillico, Jeremiah Huntt (SO/Bronx, NY) and Joe Higgins (SO/College Point, NY). Despite their valiant effort, the Panthers could not silence the hard-hitting Roadrunners whose .545 attacking percentage landed the 25-10 set win.

Back-to-back Ramapo errors pushed Purchase out in front, 2-0, to open the third set. The Panther lead was short-lived however, as the Roadrunners netted a quick four points to take back the advantage. Ramapo would hold the lead for the remainder of the set en route to the 25-15 win and complete sweep over Purchase.

Match 2: Purchase 3, Yeshiva 1 (25-10, 27-25, 21-25, 25-19)

The Panthers returned to the court for the final match of the day and wasted no time putting in work against the Maccabees of Yeshiva University.

Purchase fired in a .300 hitting percentage in the opening set—its best offensive showing of the day. The Panthers earned the 25-10 set win for their efforts and later battled to a 27-25 triumph in the second stanza.

Yeshiva fired in 12 kills and a combined .167 attacking percentage in the third set. The 25-21 set win kept hope alive for the Maccabees as the match went into game four, but Purchase clawed back from the upset with a 25-19 victory in the fourth and final set.

Higgins led all players with an impressive 18 kills on 39 attempts (.231), 13 digs and two service aces. Huntt tallied 10 kills and 11 digs, while also notching four blocks and a game-best six aces. Idris Idris (FR/Bronx, NY) finished with a game-high 36 assists to go along with five digs and four aces.  

Slomka produced six kills and a notable five blocks to lead the defensive effort. Posillico also put in work for Purchase with 12 digs, six kills and three blocks. 

The Panthers are back on the road again tomorrow, traveling to Riverdale, N.Y. to face off against league foe Mount Saint Vincent. The Skyline matchup is slated for 7 p.m.

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