Bronxville, NY- The CMSV men's volleyball team headed into Sarah Lawrence College with their minds set on earning a playoff spot in the Skyline Conference tournament. The Dolphins needed to defeat the Gryphons in order to take over the fourth seed. The Dolphins pushed the match to five sets, but ultimately fell to the Gryphons, 3-2.

The first set was neck and neck for the majority of the matchup. The Dolphins battled hard as they bounced back from small deficits continuously, and eventually went on a 4-0 run to take a late 18-14 lead over the Gryphons forcing them to take a timeout, but coming out of the break, the Dolphins continued their strong play as they took a 20-14 lead. The Dolphins weren't phased by a quick run by Sarah Lawrence as they scored two of their own forcing another timeout by the Gryphons. CMSV closed out the set defeating Sarah Lawrence, 25-19. 

The second set saw the Dolphins climb out of a four point hole to start the matchup. The Gryphons came out hot as they took four straight points, but the Dolphins responded with two quick ones to cut the deficit to two, but Sarah Lawrence was not done as they would score three more to take a 8-3 lead. As always coach Courtney Bernstein made sure the Dolphins remained composed throughout the set as CMSV would go on a huge 8-0 run to tie the game at 10, and eventually take the lead before the Gryphon coach took a timeout to slow the Dolphin momentum. Again, the Dolphins were unphased by the time out as they scored another five to take a 16-12 lead, as the Gryphons were forced to burn another timeout. The Dolphins found themselves in a close game as the Gryphons tied the game at 21, but the Dolphins stayed cool and finished strong, as they defeated Sarah Lawrence 25-23.  

The third matchup was another close one for the Dolphins as they traded points and leads on multiple occasions. The Gryphons were able to pull away by four, 17-13 before the Dolphins called timeout to slow the momentum. CMSV tried to match the Gryphons' intensity as they went on a 3-0 run to force a Gryphon timeout, but were ultimately outmatched in the set as they fell, 25-19.

The final set mirrored the previous two sets as the Dolphins traded points with the Gryphons throughout the majority of the set. The Dolphins would take a 16-15 lead, but a 5-0 run would push the Gryphons ahead, and force a CMSV timeout. The Dolphins responded well as they cut the deficit to one on three separate occasions the Gryphons would win the set, 25-22. 

The final set saw the same intensity as the past sets. The Dolphins battled with the Gryphons throughout the entirety of the matchup. The Gryphons were able to pull away in the end to defeat the Dolphins 15-11.

Sophomore Kyle Thompson led the team in kills (11) followed by freshman Shane Stein and junior Terence Strehle who both added 10 on the day. Junior Samuel Martinez added eight kills of his own. Senior Miguel Losa added 18 assists to his impressive season. 

Although the Dolphins dropped the matchup with Sarah Lawrence, the future looks bright for CMSV as the returners now have some experience going into the next year as they'll look to make a run at the Skyline Conference Championship.