OLD WESTBURY, N.Y. — The SUNY Old Westbury women's volleyball team won their first game of the season in a five set thriller against the Bearcats of Baruch College.
In the opening set the Bearcats would start off with a demanding lead but the Panthers would come back to tie the set at 12 a piece. The set would go back and forth untill the end where Baruch would win the set 25-22.
After dropping the opening set, Old Westbury found itself trailing Baruch, 16-8, in the second. The Panthers responded with an impressive rally, scoring 12 of the next 13 points to take a 20-17 lead. Old Westbury continued to control the momentum down the stretch, eventually closing out the set, 25-20, to even the match at one set apiece.
Baruch took control in the third set, building a 14-8 advantage before Old Westbury briefly responded with a three-point run to cut the deficit to 14-11. The Bearcats regained momentum, extending their lead to 20-13 and eventually closing out the set, 25-14. Despite the setback, the Panthers continued to battle and responded in the fourth set before forcing a decisive fifth set.
SUNY Old Westbury closed out the final set with a 15-10 victory over Baruch College. The Panthers jumped out to an early 2-0 lead behind kills from Karolina Lundqvist and
Amaya McFadden before Baruch battled back to tie the set at 2-2. After trading points, Old Westbury took a 5-3 advantage, but Baruch responded with a four-point run, including three service aces from Sarah Sellami, to take an 8-5 lead. The Panthers answered with a strong comeback, highlighted by a
Paige Herbert service ace and a Karen Pozo Castro kill to tie the set at 9-9. Old Westbury then took control as
Ava Cavanaugh recorded a service ace followed by back-to-back kills to give the Panthers a 14-9 lead. Baruch added one final point before Pozo Castro sealed the set with a kill off an assist from
Nicole Zugnoni, giving Old Westbury the 15-10 win.
Nicole Zugnoni and Herbert led the Panthers offensively with 10 kills apiece. Zugnoni also recorded four service aces and, while Herbert finished with 13 digs. McFadden contributed eight kills and 10 digs, and
Kasey Coppola added five kills while hitting .333.
Julia Brandes directed the Old Westbury offense with 23 assists, while
Ava Cavanaugh paced the defensive effort with 18 digs.
The Panthers will take on Medgar Evers College on September 22 at 6PM inside the Clark Center
