NEW YORK – The Yeshiva University women's volleyball team opened the 2022 season by dropping a non-conference match to The City College of New York, in straight sets, at Nat Holman Gymnasium on Thursday evening. Set scores were 25-16, 25-3, and 25-18.

Leading the attack for the Maccabees (0-1) were newcomers Gabrielle Kupferman and Shany Elmaleh who had four kills each, with the latter producing a team-high nine digs on the defensive end. Junior Zoey Botnick anchored the defense with eight digs and added five assists on offense. Senior Emily Zrihen scored three service aces.

In the opening set, Elmaleh slammed home a kill to put YU up, 2-0. However, the Beavers (1-0) scored three straight points to take the lead. After Yeshiva tied the opening set, CCNY went on a 13-6 run to take a commanding hold. The Macs answered by scoring four straight points, thanks to a kill by Elmaleh and three consecutive aces courtesy of Zrihen, to narrow their deficit to 16-13. Unfortunately for the Blue and White, CCNY outscored them 9-3 the rest of the set to take a 1-0 lead in the match.

City College led from wire-to-wire in the second stanza to put YU down by two sets. In the third game, Kupferman scored back-to-back kills to give Yeshiva a 4-3 benefit. YU regained the advantage a couple more times in the set, but City College went on a 12-2 run later in the stanza to jump out to a commanding 24-13 hold. The Maccabees would not go down without a fight as a service ace by Elmaleh and a kill by senior Daniella Rothman highlighted five straight points for YU to pull to within 24-18. CCNY was able to cash in on its sixth set-point opportunity of the game as freshman Nila Tom slammed home a kill to clinch the season-opening victory for the Beavers.

For the Maccabees, junior Aleesa Elbaum had a strong match defensively with six digs, while classmate Ashley Botnick added five digs of her own. Senior Tali Miller added two digs and a pair of assists. Second-year player Devorah Batt scored a kill and provided four digs, while rookie Adira Sklar scored an ace.

For the Beavers, sophomore Bianka Catral was the standout player with 14 kills, eight service aces, and just as many digs. Classmate Arianna Rivas led all players with 15 digs.

Yeshiva will open Skyline play against St. Joseph's University Brooklyn on Sunday. YU's home opener at the ARC Arena is scheduled to begin at 4:00 p.m.