BRONXVILLE, N.Y. – The Yeshiva University men's volleyball team dropped the final match of its season, to Sarah Lawrence College in straight sets, at the Campbell Sports Center on Wednesday evening. Set scores were 25-11, 25-23, and 25-22.
For Yeshiva, junior middle blocker
Steven Zelmanovich tallied eight kills, had 10 digs, and added two assists. Senior setter
Shimon Ohana had a double-double with 13 assists and 10 digs, while scoring four kills. Graduate defensive specialist
Sibi Selvarajah had a team-high 12 digs and added three kills. Junior middle blocker
Alon Jakubowitz had a solid match with six kills, a match-best four blocks, and a pair of digs.
After falling in the first set, Yeshiva trailed 20-12 in the second. The Maccabees responded with seven unanswered points, four of those coming from kills by Zelmanovich, to pull to within one. After the Gryphons scored three straight points, the Macs countered with a 3-0 run of their own to narrow their deficit to 23-22. However, Sarah Lawrence was able to score two of the game's final three points to clinch the second set and put Yeshiva on the brink.
Jakubowitz slammed home back-to-back kills to begin the third set. YU eventually built a 10-5 advantage before Sarah Lawrence went on a 5-1 run to pull to within one. Later in the stanza, Selvarajah scored a kill to extend Yeshiva's lead to 14-11. The Gryphons were able to tilt the momentum into their favor by scoring five of the next six points to jump out in front, 16-15. After Yeshiva scored the next two points, Sarah Lawrence responded with a 6-1 blitz to go up by a score of 22-18. The Maccabees could not generate a consistent run to get back into the stanza, as the Gryphons won the set, 25-22, and clinched the victory in the exhibition contest.
For the Maccabees, first-year outside hitter
Benjamin Smillie anchored the defense with eight digs, while junior libero
Michael Stark tallied six digs. Sophomore outside hitter
Asher Kirshtein helped out defensively with five digs, while sophomore right side hitter
Shmuel Aberman had a dig of his own.
The Yeshiva University men's volleyball team will return to the court in February of 2022.
