Purchase Women’s Volleyball Falls To CCNY In Three Sets

By Lena Flamm

The Panthers and Beavers hype each other up one last time before the whistle blows. (Photo by Marin Tyree)

There was a palpable energy in the Purchase gym this week as the bleachers filled up, cheers and rowdy laughter echoed through every corner, and students, friends, and families prepared to watch a showdown between the Purchase Panthers and City College of New York (CCNY) Beavers women’s volleyball teams.

Even before the game, when the two teams were practicing their volleys back and forth while their jerseys hung on the sidelines, the energy was raucous. But as the girls huddled up and the horn sounded, that energy transformed into a single-minded drive and a ferocious support for teammates.

The game started with several aces in quick succession, scoring both Purchase and CCNY points. However, it wasn’t long before the two teams found their rhythm in volleying. Panthers outside hitter Sadie Weiss, a sophomore, was all over the ball, scoring some points for Purchase and getting the crowd cheering, but the Beavers were not going to let that slide.

Beavers outside hitter Gia Skenderi, at 6 feet tall, demonstrated wicked serves that soon thwarted the Purchase defense and put her team ahead. When Weiss fell to the ground in an attempt to volley a ball back, libero Marcella Peña served into the net at the end of a nail-biting rally. Purchase fans began to wonder if the set was salvageable. Peña herself remained unshakeable. “It’s really just remembering the game is not over”, she said when asked what the secret was to confidently shaking off a mistake.

Gia Skenderi mid-serve. (Photo by Marin Tyree)

With Weiss and Skenderi facing off at the top of their game, and a crowd watching with bated breath, the Beavers took the first set 25-17. A fire was set in the Panthers as they huddled and discussed plays during the first intermission. Freshman setter Isabella Colon, who had just served a ball the Beavers chased after and fumbled before the period’s close, was only looking to improve. “I think Maya (Brown, a libero) was really good with her hustle and her digs”, but as for herself, she was focused on “... working on finding my rhythm faster.”

Isabella Colon ready for a rally. (Photo by Marin Tyree)

With period two underway, long rallies were the name of the game. The crowd’s eyes ping-ponged back and forth as an especially long and heated one took place, eventually ending with a perfect serve by Beavers right side Ivanna Zamora Sanchez, a sophomore from Mexico City. This seemed to give Sanchez the courage she needed to take charge. Though Panthers setter Natalia Leite had also risen to the occasion, showcasing an impressive rally-ending serve backwards, the Beavers still clinched the second set 25-20.

By the third set, it was now-or-never for The Panthers, and fans were nervously watching the scoreboard. The rallies were long, the points were climbing, and when Panthers middle blocker Claudia Moses brought a rally so close that she and a CCNY player were standing directly on either side of the net, you could hear a pindrop in the gymnasium. But in the end, the Beavers’ momentum just couldn’t be stopped, and they took the set 25-19, winning the game.

Beavers assistant coach Alexa Guedez was as proud as can be of her team’s straight-sets win, confidently saying, “I think everyone was working together, communicating very well today, and it showed on the court.”

But there were no tears nor tantrums for the Purchase Panthers, and after a long debrief with assistant coach Dean Bennett, filling in for head coach Louis Sepulveda’s absence, the team was all class and smiles as they headed off to change and greet their friends.

But there were no tears nor tantrums for the Purchase Panthers, and after a long debrief with assistant coach Dean Bennett, filling in for head coach Louis Sepulveda’s absence, the team was all class and smiles as they headed off to change and greet their friends.

When asked what the team most needed to improve before the Panthers’ next game against Baruch College, Peña was ready to refine what she felt might be a faulty serve-receive game. “Serve receive is a very mental game, so if we’re not 100% there, if we zone out for even a second, it’s easy to get an ace, and then we lose the point. It creates a higher deficit, and then it becomes harder to recover. So I feel like as long as our mentality is good and our serve receive is good, we’ll be fine.” She still felt confident that the Panthers, only six games into the season, were on a path to victory. Resilience was her word of the day, and she added, “I feel like we’re right there, just inching up, closer and closer.”

The Purchase Panthers embrace after a successful rally (Photo by Marin Tyree)

With 13 games left after Baruch before the playoff season kicks off, no one can know just where the Purchase Panthers are headed. But with loyal fans and a hard-working, tough-as-nails team, everybody’s on the edge of their seat waiting for what happens next.