Skyline Spotlight: Athena Kazos
Elise Hendricks ‘28
Following a 40-kill performance across three Sarah Lawrence wins, Athena Kazos (#10), outside hitter and senior, rightfully earned the title of Skyline Conference’s Player of the Week announced on Sept. 15, 2025. Kazos aided her team in a tri-match against both Curry College and Saint Joseph’s, which earned her “Player of the Week”, awarded by Skyline Conference. This award is given to a student athlete who has exhibited immense talent on the court, marking nothing short of excellence. This excellence and talent is precisely what Kazos has shown up to demonstrate time and time again.
The importance of this nomination was emphasized by Skyline Conference, recognizing the fact that Kazos dominated the matches, amassing 40 kills and 33 digs. This ultimately cemented her place atop the Skyline leaderboards.
“The nomination lightened up my week,” said Kazos, smiling. “It’s always great to be recognized.”
Coming all the way from Santa Cruz, California to Bronxville, New York, Kazos was no stranger to the game.
“I played a bunch of sports growing up, but I started volleyball in 6th grade,” said Kazos, reminiscing on her start. “My sister, who is four years older, was playing volleyball at the time, and I just wanted to do what my sister was doing.”
Overlapping two sports, volleyball and soccer, for a short while, she decided to devote her time to volleyball in high school. Her hard work and dedication ultimately paid off when she was recruited to play volleyball on the intercollegiate level for the Gryphons.
Stepping into her senior year at Sarah Lawrence, Kazos can’t help but take in every moment she has left of her athletic career. She recalls her memories of the small-scale team that she first stepped into and boasts about how the team has evolved to the level it’s at today.
“It was a very different team than what it is now,” explained Kazos. “The girls that were previously on the team built the program up and they loved to play.”
She made it clear that with help from her coach, the women’s volleyball team has been able to recruit passionate, talented girls who have helped to build the team up from where it started. The pride she has in her team was evident as she spoke.
“Seeing the evolution of the team I walked into vs the team that has grown into what it is now is just amazing,” said Kazos. “I’m so proud of what we’ve done so far this season. The improvement in our game has been insane, and we just have such a strong passion for the game itself.”
Her hopes going forward for the season fall nothing short of a hopeful and probable wish: a clear shot at winning the league championship, something that is a possibility for the first time in a long time. “I hope that this chapter closes with a great end, it would really be a full circle moment,” said Kazos.
It’s crystal clear, game after game, that the team in its entirety moves in-tune, as a unit, relying on skills like communication, trust, and motivation to get themselves closer and closer to that league championship title. Up until the end of the season, Kazos will continue to stand by her team, taking in the final moments of her volleyball career, and ultimately aiding in propelling her team further and further toward success.
“It’s bittersweet, but it’s exciting.”