“My Guys Dialed in and Marked This on Their Calendar.” Panthers Volleyball Dominates in Double Header with Playoff Implications
- 1 day ago
- 5 min read
By Lena Flamm
75 excited fans were in attendance to watch the Purchase men’s volleyball team take on both conference rivals, Old Westbury Panthers and the Brooklyn College Bulldogs, in back-to-back games.
It’s been an interesting season for the Panthers. The team didn’t start out so hot, losing nine of their first 10 games, six of those losses in straight sets. But something clicked in their Feb. 28 match against St. Joseph’s University Brooklyn. It was their first conference game of the season, and a hard-fought victory turned into a five-game win streak, the next four after SJUB being straight set wins. The Panthers have been climbing the rankings of the Skyline Conference, where they sat at a 9-13 overall and 8-4 conference record that afternoon.
With the team’s regular season finale at Sarah Lawrence just two days later, it was apparent that, as far as regular season games go, this double would play a major hand in the team’s fate. While St. Joseph’s Long Island sat comfortably in the number one seed with a perfect 14-0 conference record, it was still a tight race for the other three teams advancing to the semifinals.
The game started with a neck-and-neck first set, both “Panthers” teams matching each other’s intensity. However, Purchase was in an offensive groove, scoring 13 points off kills, and took the first set 25-23. From there, Purchase was riding high, with a 7-0 scoring run to start off the second, with freshman setter Danny Kanner serving.
“Definitely a momentum shift for us,” said libero Joey Toscano, who had 10 digs in the game. “We needed a hot start, we needed to come out with intensity, and starting off on a 7-0 run definitely puts you in a good spot.”
The Panthers stayed on top, securing the second set 25-11. In the third, Old Westbury regained some composure, with middle blocker Torrence Fredericks earning five of the team’s nine kills in the set, bringing Fredericks to 10 kills overall. Purchase continued to dominate, winning the third set 25-20, and ending the game with a .329 hitting percentage to Old Westbury’s 197. Purchase Coach Dean Bennett gave credit where it was due. “Their middles are strong hitters. Number five [Fredericks], if we could contain him… then we knew the game was ours. We took their main offensive weapon out of play.”
It was a bit of a revenge game for Bennett. “Last week, we played against the same opponent, Old Westbury, and they had our numbers. It was actually the first time in Purchase history that they beat us. So we definitely wanted to get our get-back today, and with that being said, my guys dialed in and marked this on their calendar.”
As for what earned the win for them, according to Bennett, “We stayed disciplined at the net, disciplined at the back row, tried to communicate with one another. We started off slow in the first set, but then… we got in a groove, not comfortable, I don’t wanna say comfortable, cause that’s how they caught us off-guard last time. So, we were a little bit more aggressive, picked our spots, not to play perfection off the rip, but to gradually build up.”
Just a half hour after the final point was scored, the Purchase Panthers were facing off against the Brooklyn College Bulldogs on the other side of the net. The Bulldogs, 14-7 and coming hot off a six-game win streak, were no easy opponent.
Though the set started off on equal footing, with Bulldogs freshman middle blocker Matthew Kadatskiy proving to be a versatile player with three kills, two blocks and an ace, the Panthers clinched the first set 25-17, with five kills by sophomore outside hitter Hector Ruiz. But it was Panthers junior middle blocker Udel Phillips who was the star of the second set, with it being announced mid-game that Phillips had just scored his 500th career kill to thunderous applause. It remained a close game, with six lead changes in the set and eight times the score was tied.
However, Purchase won their fifth consecutive set of the day, 25-19. In one more set, the Purchase Panthers could wrap this up and go home victorious. While the Panthers led for most of the set, at a certain point the Bulldogs began to pick up momentum, and when Brooklyn tied the set at 23, Purchase fans were set on edge. The Bulldogs went on to take the set 26-24.
Entering the fourth, while the Panthers still had a 2-1 set lead, it was becoming more important than ever to focus, or victory would slip away. In the end, the team remained champions, with Ruiz proving invaluable with another six kills, making 19 overall, double digits above his teammates. Toscano was a crucial defensive asset to the team with 16 digs, making it the sixth straight game he’s recorded more than 10.
Toscano named the team’s biggest strength as “not backing down when we were put into a tough situation. We kind of lost grip of the first set, letting them score a lot of easy points that we shouldn’t have. But we kept pushing, we kept fighting, stuck to our game plan and we came out with a win.”
As for defensive specialist Tae Rice, he made sure to give his teammates their well-deserved flowers. “I think our centers are running a really good offense. I think Kanner’s putting in a lot of work to earn the Rookie of the Year that we believe is his. Udel [Phillips] is doing great things in the middle, our whole team is just clicking, Hector [Ruiz] and Jael [Martinez] are doing great things in the paint, and then Toscano, just going off.”
The double win brings their record to 11-13 and 9-4 in the conference, dethroning Manhattanville University as the number two seed and securing the spot, which would have only been possible with Purchase winning both games. They will face off at home against now number three Manhattanville in the Skyline Conference semifinals on April 8 at 7 p.m.
Will the Panthers be able to maintain their offensive prowess in the playoffs? According to Coach Bennett, “We’re strong on the defensive end, but once we get the offense going? It’s game over.”
Comments