NEW YORK -- The City College of New York women's volleyball team found the perfect way to christen the new playing surface at Nat Holman Gymnasium.  In their first home match of the season, the Beavers (6-6) earned a thrilling 16-25, 25-15, 15-25, 26-24, 15-8 victory over Sarah Lawrence (11-12) on Tuesday night.

Trailing two sets to one, CCNY raced out to a 10-5 lead in the fourth set.  Sarah Lawrence rallied to tie it at 14-14 before back-to-back Nicole Polanco (West Haverstraw, NY) kills started a 5-2 run that put the Beavers in front 19-16.  A kill by Arianna Rivas (New York, NY) brought CCNY to set point at 24-22, but the Gryphons claimed the next two points to even the score at 24-24.  After a Sarah Lawrence service error gave CCNY another set point opportunity, Rivas ripped a kill to close out the frame, 26-24, and send the match into a decisive set.

In the fifth set, it was all Beavers.  CCNY scored the first six points of the stanza and led 8-1 at the side switch.  Dzeneta Harambasic (Ridgewood, NY) put one home to give the Beavers their biggest advantage of the set at 12-3, and a Melanie Torres (Queens, NY) kill gave CCNY its first match point at 14-7.  Kayla Oge (New City, NY) then finished off the victory with her 17th kill of the contest.  The Beavers hit .385 (11 kills, one error, 26 attempts) in the 15-8 fifth-set win.

Prior to the contest, there was a brief ceremony to officially unveil the new court design.  It was also the Beavers' Breast Cancer Awareness Match, as the team wore pink t-shirts and socks to show their support for the cause.

Once the match got underway, Sarah Lawrence raced out to an early advantage, serving three aces in a five-point stretch to open up a 14-6 cushion.  The Beavers rallied back within four at 15-11, but the Gryphons ended the first set on a 10-5 spurt to clinch a 25-16 win and take a 1-0 lead in the contest.

CCNY responded immediately, rattling off five straight points to open the second set.  Sarah Lawrence tied it at 12-12, but the Beavers scored seven of the next eight points to push the margin back to seven, 20-13.  A service ace by Rachel Ramirez (New York, NY) secured a 25-15 set win for CCNY, leveling the match at one set apiece.

Sarah Lawrence jumped ahead 5-2 in the third set before the Beavers countered with four consecutive points to take a 6-5 lead.  However, the Gryphons followed with a 13-4 spurt that put them in front, 18-10.  After CCNY pulled within 18-13, Sarah Lawrence ended the stanza on a 7-2 run to go up 2-1 in the match. The Gryphons hit .375 (11-2-24) in their third-set win.

Oge and Polanco each tallied 17 kills for the Beavers.  Oge added two blocks, while Polanco collected 16 digs to complete a double-double.  Harambasic also recorded a double-double with 50 assists and 12 digs.  Ramirez, meanwhile, had nine kills to go along with 23 digs.  Michelle Hu (Staten Island, NY) contributed 18 digs and Oahn Han (Brooklyn, NY) registered 16 digs, as CCNY held a 98-76 advantage in that category.  Offensively, the Beavers hit .149 (57-31-175) as a team.

For the Gryphons, Melanie Coleman led the way with 15 kills.  She also poted six digs, three service aces and three blocks.  Lauren Kilroy had a double-double with 10 kills and 11 digs, while Isabel Pecora finished with 35 assists and 14 digs.  Clarise Steiner paced Sarah Lawrence with 24 digs, and Davis Mathis tallied 11 digs to go along with eight kills.  Gabrielle Hegedus added 10 digs for the Gryphons, who hit a combined .136 (44-21-169) in the match.

On Thursday, CCNY (2-3 CUNYAC) resumes CUNY Athletic Conference play with a 7 p.m. matchup at Medgar Evers (0-15, 0-4 CUNYAC).  It will be the first of two meetings this season between the Beavers and Cougars.