PATCHOGUE, N.Y. – The Yeshiva University men's volleyball team settled for a split in its Skyline Conference tri-match, at the Danzi Center, on Sunday afternoon. Yeshiva won the first match against Sarah Lawrence College, 3-0, but dropped the second contest to host St. Joseph's College Long Island in straight sets.

In Yeshiva's (6-7, 3-2 Skyline) victory over Sarah Lawrence (1-10, 0-4 Skyline), set scores were 25-12, 25-12, and 25-22. Yeshiva scored the last eight points of the opening set, capped off by a kill from sophomore middle blocker Eliyahou Benhamou, to win the game and go up, 1-0, in the match. The Maccabees once again finished strong in the second set, as back-to-back service aces from sophomore opposite hitter Derek Orenshein capped off a 4-0 run by the Maccabees and earn the Blue and White a 2-0 advantage, putting the Gryphons on the brink.

Back-to-back kills by Benhamou gave Yeshiva an 11-8 advantage in the third set. Later in the game, Benhamou struck again with another successful attack to extend YU's lead to 17-13. Down 19-16, Sarah Lawrence rallied with four unanswered points to take a 20-19 advantage. After a kill from sophomore outside hitter Joseph Sulaymanov evened the match at 21 points apiece, a Yeshiva attack error allowed the Gryphons to regain a one-point lead. However, the Macs once again finished a game with a rally, as back-to-back kills from junior middle blocker Yosef Ajami concluded a 4-0 run for Yeshiva that clinched the third game and Yeshiva's fifth match-victory in a row.

For Yeshiva, Benhamou had seven kills, three assists, just as many digs, a block, and a service ace. Sulaymanov had five kills, eight digs, and a pair of aces. Senior outside hitter Chaim Aryeh Rubin and Orenshein each had four kills, seven digs, and two aces.

Sophomore setter Isaac Pomerance led all players with 11 assists to go along with three digs, while second-year outside hitter Jonathan Apsan slammed home three kills and had just as many digs. First-year liberos Sibi Selvarajah and Michael Stark each chipped in on defense with a pair of digs. Ajami and graduate outside hitter Adam Gerszberg each had three kills with the former recording three digs.

In the match against the defending Skyline Conference champion St. Joseph's College Long Island, set scores were 25-5, 25-15, and 25-15. After the Golden Eagles (15-3, 3-0 Skyline) cruised in the opening set, Ajami scored a kill in the second to give Yeshiva a 5-3 lead. However, a 9-3 run put the home team up, 12-8. Later in the set, an 8-1 run by the Golden Eagles put Yeshiva in a 22-13 hole. A kill by Gerszberg propelled Yeshiva to narrow St. Joseph's lead to 22-15, but the Golden Eagles scored the set's last three points to put Yeshiva on the brink.

Yeshiva got off to a strong start in the third set, as a kill from Orenshein gave the Maccabees a 4-2 advantage. However, St. Joseph's went on an 8-1 run, later in the stanza, to go up 14-8. Yeshiva kept hanging around in the set, but the Golden Eagles outscored Yeshiva, 6-1, to take a commanding 22-12 hold. A kill by Orenshein and an ace from Gerszberg drew Yeshiva closer but it was not enough, as the first-place Golden Eagles won the set, 25-15, to clinch the sweep.

For Yeshiva, Orenshein had six kills, while Selvarajah had a team-high seven digs. Pomerance had nine assists to go along with five digs.

Yeshiva will host Mount Saint Vincent, in a key Skyline Conference contest at the Max Stern Athletic Center, on Wednesday evening. First serve is scheduled for 8:00 p.m.