NEW YORK – The Yeshiva University women's volleyball team opened the season with a hard-fought loss to York College (N.Y.), 3-1, at the ARC Arena on Friday afternoon. Set scores were 25-19, 20-25, 25-16, and 26-24.

Leading the way for the Maccabees was senior Tehilla Teigman, who just missed a double-double with a match-high 11 kills and a team-best nine digs. Junior Rebekah Bargraser slammed home seven kills and had just as many digs on the defensive side. Sophomore Maya Rosen led all players with six service aces, while Teigman scored four.

After dropping the first set, Yeshiva got off to a strong start in the second as a kill by Teigman, followed by back-to-back aces from senior Batya Schreier propelled the Macs to a 6-5 advantage. Later in the stanza, Rosen nailed two service aces to spark a 5-0 run for YU and extend its lead to 16-9. The Cardinals would not go down quietly, as they countered with five unanswered points of their own to narrow YU's lead to 22-20. However, Yeshiva regained its composure by scoring the last three points, capped off by back-to-back aces from Rosen, to win the set and even the match at one game apiece.

York struck back by earning a wire-to-wire victory in the third set to put YU on the brink.

The Cardinals continued their momentum in the fourth set by jumping out to a 10-3 hold. The Maccabees would not go down without a fight as Teigman and Rosen each slammed home a kill to spark a 4-0 run to pull to within three. Later in the game, Bargraser propelled YU to another stretch of four straight points, thanks to two service aces and a kill, to allow Yeshiva to jump out in front, 15-14. Teigman continued the Macs' momentum by scoring a kill to increase the Blue and White's lead to 17-15.

After the Cardinals rallied to take a 19-18 advantage, YU scored three straight points, highlighted by another ace from Rosen and a kill by Bargraser, to put the home team in front, 21-19. The Cardinals countered by scoring five of the game's next six points to earn a set-point opportunity at 24-22. Bargraser's kill kept YU alive and then the home team was able to tie it up at 24. However, York scored two points in a row to clinch the game and the match.

For the Maccabees, Schreier had a solid performance with six assists, five digs, four kills, and three aces. Rosen and junior Julie Chase each had five digs, with the former slamming home four kills and the latter producing a team-high nine assists.

Yeshiva will travel to the Hill Center, on the campus of St. Joseph's College Brooklyn, for a tri-match hosted by The King's College (N.Y.) on Sunday. Yeshiva will take on SUNY-Delhi at 12:45 p.m., and then the host Lions at 2:45 p.m.