Boxscore

PURCHASE, N.Y. – Despite a match- and career-high 15 kills from junior Damaris Morales (Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic)and 48 kills as a team, King's (Pa.) College came to Kennedy Gymnasium and left with a 3-1 (25-15, 12-25, 25-21, 25-21) victory over Manhattanville in a Freedom Conference women's volleyball match on Wednesday night.

Morales led the Manhattanville offense with her career-best 15 kills and added 10 digs for her second double-double of the season. Freshman Jocelyn Branca (Eastchester, N.Y.) had a solid match as well for the Valiants as well, recording a double-double of her own with 12 kills and 21 digs, while junior Makana Gomes (Honolulu, Hawaii) had 35 assists, 13 digs and eight kills to just miss a triple-double.

On the King's side, senior Emily Kline and freshman Lauren Rockhold combined for 25 kills, with Kline registering a team-best 13 kills and Rockhold posting 12 kills without an error for .500 hitting. Senior Emily Greenway posted 28 assists and sophomore Jillian Foster added a game-high 27 digs for the visitors as well.

King's came out strong in the opening set, recording 10 kills and just two errors to take a 25-15 win. The match was close at 11-8 before the Monarchs scored seven straight points to open up a 10-point advantage and cruise to the game-one win, thanks to six kills from Rockhold.

In a tremendous response, Manhattanville came out firing in the second set, registering 16 kills and just three errors (.500 hitting) in earning an easy 25-12 victory and evening the match at one. The set was even at seven apiece early on, but the Valiants came with a decisive 12-1 run that included six Valiant kills and a trio of service aces from Morales and classmate Maggie Black (Seattle, Wash.). All six Valiants had at least one kill in the set, led by four each from Morales and Gomes.

The third set was another tightly contested frame, but the Valiants could never get the pivotal point and fell by a 25-21 score. Manhattanville recorded a game-high 12 kills in the frame, but the home team was done in by 10 errors in the same span. King's took the biggest lead of the frame at 17-11 before the Valiants won six of the next seven points to close within one, but a pair of kills from Greenway and Kline gave the visitors the breathing room they needed to take the set.

The fourth set played out very similarly to the third, as the Monarchs never trailed despite some challenges from the Valiants. Manhattanville again had 12 kills in the frame, but an efficient King's offense (12 kills, two errors) did not let the home team complete a comeback. Kline helped close out the match with six kills in the final frame, helping to counteract six on the other side from Morales.

Manhattanville (6-12, 0-5 Freedom) returns to action on Saturday, as the team hosts the annual Valiant Tri-Match beginning at 11 a.m. against the College of Staten Island, followed by Kean University versus Staten Island at 1 p.m. and Manhattanville against Kean at 3 p.m. King's (5-11, 1-4 Freedom) will host FDU-Florham on Tuesday at 7 p.m.