PURCHASE, N.Y. – Purchase College volleyball returned to action with a Skyline Conference split at the College of Mount Saint Vincent tri-match on Saturday at the Peter Jay Sharp Center.

The Panthers opened the afternoon with a 3-0 loss to St. Joseph's College (L.I.) but bounced back in the second match to defeat the host Dolphins of CMSV, 3-1.

Match One: SJC-LI 3, Purchase 0
Purchase (3-11, 2-4 SKY) faced the Golden Eagles (17-3, 7-0 Skyline) for the second time in four days—this time dropping a 3-0 decision with set scores of 25-7, 25-12 and 25-19.

Mark Williams led SJC with 11 kills (.133), six service aces, five digs and two blocks (1 solo). Paul Curaro hit an impressive .667 with seven kills on nine attempts with just a single error, to go along with a trio of aces and a team-best eight digs. Matthew Dolan and Mark Jensen provided five kills apiece, while Michael Lane tossed up a match-high 18 assists.

The Panthers were led by Jeremiah Huntt (SR/Bronx, NY) with four kills, six digs and one service ace. Marcus Garguilo (FR/Port Washington, NY) amassed a match-high three blocks, while Idris Idris (JR/Bronx, NY) chipped in with six assists and three digs.

Match Two: Purchase 3, CMSV 1
After falling to SJC in their opening match, the Panthers rallied to defeat Mount Saint Vincent, 3-1, in game two of the afternoon. Set scores were 25-25, 25-20, 25-19 and 25-22.

Purchase held a 24-22 match-point lead in the first set, but would allow CMSV to rattle off four unanswered points and steal the win, 26-24. 

Both benches were neck and neck throughout the second set. With the score tied 20-20, a Huntt kill ignited a 5-0 rally that awarded PC the win. Higgins secured the 25-20 victory with a set-ending kill. 

Mount Saint Vincent opened strong in the third set. Two errors by Purchase and a pair of MSV kills pushed the Dolphins out to an early 4-1 lead. 

Costly errors in favor of Purchase would later tie the set at 6-6. An Idris ace and two combined kills from Mario Olmedo (FR/Elmhurst, NY) and Huntt kick started a 7-1 run that pushed the Panthers out in front, 17-12. Purchase held on for the remainder of the set en route to the 25-19 win. 

The fourth set opened with multiple lead changes before Purchase's offense exploded with seven unanswered points to lead 21-13. Mount Saint Vincent fired back to come within one point of Purchase (23-22), but back-to-back Huntt kills would hand PC the match-victory with a set score of 25-22. 

Huntt paved the way for Purchase (3-12, 2-5 Skyline) with a career-best 24 kills (.211), along with eight digs and one ace. Garguilo also netted double digits with 12 kills (4 errors) on 25 attempts for an impressive .320 attacking percentage. The rookie middle blocker also finished with a pair of aces and one block solo, while fellow rookie Jasper Zeray anchored the Panther defense with 13 digs. Idris tossed up a match-high 38 assists, and combined with Joe Higgins (SR/Bayside, NY) for 15 digs.