Panthers Men’s Volleyball Surge Past Saint Elizabeth Eagles

By Brandon Cruz

The Panthers Men’s Volleyball team defeated the Saint Elizabeth Eagles in four sets on Feb. 20, improving to 6-5 on the year.

Tyler Ryan finished with nine kills and two blocks. (Photo by Sabrina Moore)

The Panthers, who’ve won five of their last six games, were led by sophomore Channing Williams, who tallied 22.5 points, 18 kills, and six total blocks. Freshman Ayden Mercado finished with 34 assists, leading both teams.

“We’re definitely an aggressive team,” Panthers Head Coach Dean Bennett said. “We just have a way of picking and choosing where we want to be aggressive, so hopefully we can keep it consistent as the season goes along.”

The Panthers started their season on a cold stretch, losing four of their first five games. Sophomore Ethan Revaitis spoke more about where he feels the team currently stands.

“We’re still young,” Revaitis said. “Most of us are still freshmen, but the people that are sophomores, juniors, and seniors, we’re trying to get more team chemistry with everyone and trying to click, but I think we’re getting there.”

Panthers huddled up in between sets. (Photo by Sabrina Moore)

Eagles Head Coach Dan Crespo complimented the way Purchase played while trying to look ahead at what he feels his team needs to improve upon. “It was tough to match up against a team that’s not only serving well, setting well, and hitting well, but defensively, they were really strong on the block,” he said. 

“One of the things that we really ask of our athletes is to be respectful of the process,” Crespo continued. “Be respectful of each other’s strengths and their limitations, and today’s goal was to just be better at one thing.”

Graduate student and team captain for the Eagles, Kodi Peters, led his team with 11 kills. He praised the way his team played, even in the loss. “We just made good plays and kept building off that,” he said. “I thought we communicated pretty well, especially in that fourth set when we were down.”

With the loss, the Eagles move to 2-9 on the season. After a rough start, Peters looks to continue to move forward and keep his head held high in his last season with the team.

“I’m proud of my teammates,” Peters said. “We should be thankful to play with each other and play volleyball. I want these guys to enjoy the ride, and take it in with the wins or the losses.”

Although the Panthers’ performance has been inconsistent to start the year, Williams is optimistic about the future of the team.

“We didn’t give up,” Williams said. “We could move more, but I feel that we have the potential to be a really good team.”