WILKES-BARRE, Pa. – The Yeshiva University women's volleyball team earned a hard-fought victory over Medgar Evers College, 3-1, at McGrane Gymnasium on Sunday afternoon. Set scores were 23-25, 27-25, 25-16, and 25-11. The contest was part of a tri-match that was hosted by King's College. The Maccabees lost to the Monarchs during their second match of the afternoon in straight sets (25-10, 25-12, and 25-8).

In YU's win over Medgar Evers, rookie Shany Elmaleh had an outstanding performance by setting the program's all-time single-match records for kills (17) and points (23). The North Hollywood native also anchored the defense with 15 digs, scored six service aces, added a pair of assists, and produced an attack percentage of .419 for the Maccabees.

Senior Emily Zrihen tallied 11 kills of her own, a career best, while adding seven service aces and producing five digs. Junior Ashley Botnick scored five kills, led all players with a career-high 20 digs, provided three assists, and registered a pair of aces. Senior Tali Miller produced a match-best 16 assists, tallied four kills, scored three service aces, and generated six digs.

"This is a very meaningful match for us," Yeshiva University Head Coach Dennis Mente said. "We have been working hard for the past few months to finally win! I have no doubt about their dedication and hard work."

Yeshiva (1-10) had an early 9-3 advantage in the first set, but Medgar Evers (1-17) went on an 11-4 run to jump out to a 14-13 benefit. Later in the stanza, Miller provided an ace to cap off a 3-0 Macs run to give the Blue and White a 22-20 lead. However, the Cougars scored five of the set's final six points to win the game and go up, 1-0, in the match.

Things looked bleak for the Maccabees as they fell behind, 18-11, in the second set. However, Elmaleh slammed home three straight kills to spark seven unanswered points by Yeshiva to tie it up at 18 points apiece. After the Cougars regained the lead, Elmaleh began a 3-0 YU run with a kill, and capped it off with an ace, to put Yeshiva ahead, 21-19. Later in the set, Yeshiva earned a set-point opportunity at 24-22. However, Medgar Evers scored two straight points to tie it. After each team exchanged a point, the Macs took advantage of two straight errors by the Cougars to claim the second set and tie the match, 1-1.

Medgar Evers jumped out to an early 9-7 lead in the third frame. The Macs answered as a kill and an ace from Ashley Botnick highlighted five straight YU points to put the Blue and White in front, 12-9. Later in the stanza, Medgar Evers scored two straight points to shrink YU's benefit to 17-16. From that point on, YU took control of the game by scoring the last eight points of the set, highlighted by three aces from Zrihen and a pair of kills from Elmaleh, to go up in the match, 2-1.

YU's strong finish to the third set carried over into the fourth, as four kills by Zrihen propelled YU to a 6-2 advantage. The Maccabees built its lead later in the stanza by scoring seven unanswered points to take a 15-5 hold. Medgar Evers managed to pull to within seven, but then YU countered by going on an 8-0 run to inflate its cushion to 23-8. The stretch of eight unanswered points was highlighted by two kills from Ashley Botnick, a service ace and a kill courtesy of Elmaleh, and a kill by senior Devorah Batt. YU eventually scored the 25^th point to secure its first win of the season.

During the victory for the Macs, junior Zoey Botnick registered 10 assists, added two kills, scored an ace, and provided three digs. Junior Aleesa Elbaum had nine digs and an assist, while Batt chipped in with a dig and an assist of her own.

In the match against King's College (17-8), Elbaum tallied a match-high 16 digs. Elmaleh had a solid performance with eight digs, two kills, and just as many service aces. Zrihen provided four kills and a dig. Batt slammed home three kills. Miller provided six assists, three digs, and a kill. Zoey Botnick recorded two kills, four assists, and three digs, while Ashley Botnick generated four digs.

Yeshiva will return to the friendly confines of the ARC Arena, on Tuesday evening, for a Skyline Conference matchup against Farmingdale State College. First serve is scheduled for 8:00 p.m.