PURCHASE, N.Y. - The Purchase College men's volleyball team opened Skyline Conference play with a rousing win Friday night, besting Sarah Lawrence College in straight sets.

Scores for the matchup were 25-22, 25-14 and 29-27.

With the victory, the Panthers moved to 3-6 overall and 1-0 in the Skyline. For the Gryphons, they dropped to 0-6 and 0-1, respectively.

While Purchase was the better team on the night, the action between the two sides was fairly close throughout.

To begin, it was the guests that raced out to the early advantage after scoring 11 of the first 16 points of the game. 

Seeing the slow start, Purchase head coach Dean Bennett called a crucial timeout to talk to his players. Whatever he said during the 75 second break seemed to work wonders, because the squad immediately responded with four-straight points to make it a contest again.

While the Panthers continued to trail in the frame, they briefly regained the lead at 16-15, only to see the Gryphons tie the game on the next point.

That trend continued over the next handful of points, before it finally flipped in Purchase's favor late. With the score tied at 19-all, the hosts pulled off four-straight points to take a commanding 23-19 advantage, before ultimately winning the frame, 25-22.

Set two saw the Panthers' best performance of the night, hitting a match-best .294 overall. The two sides initially remained close early on, before the Blue and Orange started to pull away.

With the score tied at 7-all, Purchase proceeded to score five consecutive points and seven of the next eight to lead, 14-8. 

As the frame progressed, the Panthers' advantage continued to grow and grow, as they eventually took the set, 25-14.

Following the middle stanza, it seemed like all the momentum was with Purchase heading in the third set. 

However, as soon as the frame began, it became clear that Sarah Lawrence wasn't going down without a fight. The guests opened by scoring three of the first four points and seven of the first nine overall.

But much like in the first frame, coach Bennett was ready and called a timeout to stop the bleeding and regroup. And just like in the first set, it worked to perfection as the Panthers answered with a 7-2 run to tie the contest at 9-all.

Despite Purchase's best efforts, the tie game was short lived as the guests retook the lead after outscoring the hosts, 6-4, during the next ten points.

The Blue and Orange, much like Sarah Lawrence though, refused to go down without a fight.

As a response, the hosts used a 5-0 run to flip the game back in their favor, 18-15, and used that momentum to hold the lead until the end of regulation.

It wasn't until Purchase had match point, 24-22, that the guests' fighting spirit took over. But once it did, it was game on.

As a result, the Green and Gold answered the deficit with three-straight points to put Purchase on set point, 25-24, before a service error by the Gryphons tied the contest once more.

From there, Purchase had a service error of its own to again put Sarah Lawrence at set point, before two consecutive points from the Panthers flipped set point back to them.

After a kill from the guests tied things once again, this time at 27-all, the hosts finally managed to claim the set and match with back-to-back kills from Marcus Garguilo (SO/Port Washington, NY).

In total, each side finished with 28 kills, as the Panthers enjoyed a slight edge in hitting percentage and errors.

The offense remained balanced once again for Purchase, as Chris Posillico (SR/Saltaire, NY) led the squad with nine kills and 12 digs. Not far behind him was Gargulio with eight kills and eight digs.

Idris Idris (SR/Bronx, NY) tallied a match-high 23 assists, while also adding 12 digs and three aces in the win.

Up next for the men's volleyball team is a return to non-conference play, as the Panthers host The City College of New York on February 21st at 7 p.m. You can follow along right here.