BRONXVILLE, N.Y. – The Yeshiva University men's volleyball team earned a hard-fought split in its Skyline Conference tri-match, at the Campbell Sports Center, on Sunday afternoon. Yeshiva dropped the first match to St. Joseph's Long Island, in straight sets , and then rallied from two sets down to knock off Sarah Lawrence College, 3-2. Yeshiva was the official host of the tri-match.

"Today was a very good win," Yeshiva University head coach Dalliana Toussaint said. "It started off on a very rough patch, but through patience, fight, and focus, we were able to pull off the win. This was definitely an emotional game and I think the guys learned a lot because of that."

In the match against St. Joseph's Long Island (14-6, 4-0 Skyline), set scores were 25-0, 25-17, and 25-6. Freshman outside hitter Joseph Sulaymanov led the Maccabees' attack with four kills and registered a block. Junior outside hitter Chaim Aryeh Rubin slammed home three kills and had a block, while freshman opposite hitter Derek Orenshein anchored the defense with five digs. Junior outside hitter Amitai Miller and classmate Gavriel Hizami each had three digs, while freshman outside hitter Jonathan Apsan had one block. Classmate Isaac Pomerance had a team-high seven assists.

In the Skyline win against Sarah Lawrence College, set scores were 23-25, 18-25, 25-16, 25-18, and 15-13. Yeshiva (2-10, 1-4 Skyline) scored 20 service aces as a team. Leading the way was Rubin, who produced a double-double with a career-high 23 kills to go along with 12 digs. The Skokie resident also scored three service aces, had two assists, and produced two blocks.

The Maccabees jumped out to a 19-14 advantage in the opening set, but the Gryphons (0-12, 0-2 Skyline) countered with a 9-0 run to take the lead, 23-19. After Yeshiva scored the next point, Sulaymanov produced back-to-back kills to pull the Macs to within one, at 23-22. Sarah Lawrence scored two of the game's last three points to win the opening set, 25-23.

Rubin scored a service ace to cap off a 4-0 run by Yeshiva, tying the second set by a score of 6-6. Later in the stanza, Pomerance nailed an ace to put Yeshiva on top, 13-11. The Gryphons would once again go on a run, scoring 11 of the set's next 14 points to take a 22-16 lead. Rubin and Pomerance ended Yeshiva's drought by combining for back-to-back kills to pull the Maccabees to within four. However, Sarah Lawrence scored the last three points of the second set to go up 2-0 in the match. YU was on the brink of defeat.

Yeshiva came storming out of the gate in the third set, jumping out to a 7-2 lead. The Gryphons would answer by scoring the next four points to pull to within one. Later in the stanza, Yeshiva scored six straight points, highlighted by three kills from Rubin, to extend its lead to 16-9. In the later stages of the set, Miller scored back-to-back aces to put Yeshiva up, 21-14. With the Macs at set-point, Orenshein produced an ace to give the Maccabees their first set-victory of the contest.

YU's momentum carried over into the fourth set, as the Maccabees jumped out to an 8-2 lead. Later in the set, Rubin slammed home back-to-back kills to extend Yeshiva's lead to 10-4. Sarah Lawrence chipped away and managed to pull to within two. However, Yeshiva would not allow Sarah Lawrence to sustain a run long enough to take the lead away from the Maccabees. Yeshiva scored the last four points of the set, capped off by Orenshein's service ace, to even the match at two sets apiece. A fifth set would be needed to decide the winner.

With the match tied, 6-6, Yeshiva shifted momentum into its favor by scoring five unanswered points to take a commanding 11-6 lead. During that run, Pomerance produced back-to-back kills, Rubin and Miller each slammed home a kill of their own, and Apsan scored a service ace. Yeshiva had a set-point opportunity at 14-11. The Gryphons would not go down without a fight, scoring the next two points to pull to within one. However, a Sarah Lawrence error on the attack clinched the rubber set and the come-from-behind Skyline win for the Maccabees.

For the contest, Orenshein led the team defensively with 15 digs, while adding four kills on offense with three service aces and two assists. Sulaymanov had nine kills with four digs, while Pomerance had 31 assists and nine service aces, both career highs. He also slammed home three kills and contributed on defense with six digs.

Miller had a strong match defensively with nine digs, while freshman libero Ariel Boutehsaz added four digs of his own. Apsan had two kills with a dig, while senior middle blocker David Fattakhov produced an ace. Hizami contributed on defense with a dig.

Yeshiva will return to the friendly confines of the Max Stern Athletic Center on Wednesday, for a Skyline showdown against St. Joseph's College Brooklyn. First serve is scheduled for 8:00 p.m.