MVille-Arcadia Boxscore
MVille-Alvernia Boxscore

GLENSIDE, Pa. – The Manhattanville women's volleyball team had a tough time at the Middle Atlantic Conference Crossover Tournament on Saturday, as the Valiants went 0-2 against a pair of former Freedom Conference foes, Arcadia University and Alvernia University, at Arcadia's Alumni Gymnasium.

Manhattanville did not record a set in its first match of the day, losing by a 3-0 (25-11, 25-23, 25-20) score to the host Knights. In the second match, the Valiants dropped a heartbreaking 3-2 (18-25, 25-17, 17-25, 25-20, 15-13) match to Alvernia.

Freshman Susy Camaj (Lagrangeville, N.Y.) was Manhattanville's offensive leader on the day, recording the first two double-digit kill matches of her career and finishing with a team-leading 22 kills. Classmate Jocelyn Branca (Eastchester, N.Y.) led the team in digs with 34 in the eight combined sets, while junior Makana Gomes (Honolulu, Hawaii) performed all the setting duties and finished with 71 assists.

Against Arcadia, the Valiants came back from a tough first set to battle hard and nearly take the second set, but the team came up just two points short.  The third set brought more of the same, as the Valiants finished just five points away from a win in the decisive set.

Camaj led the team with 10 kills and .227 hitting, the first double-digit kill total of her young career. Branca added 14 digs and seven kills, while junior Maggie Black (Seattle, Wash.) registered 12 digs and four kills for the visitors. Gomes also recorded an assist on all 27 Manhattanville kills against the Knights.

The second match of the day against Alvernia was a tough pill to swallow for the Valiants, as Manhattanville held 1-0 and 2-1 leads but could not close out the Crusaders. Manhattanville recorded 44 kills in the five sets, but the Valiants also committed 55 attack errors that essentially handed the match to the Crusaders.

Camaj again had a good match offensively for the Valiants, setting a career high in kills for the second straight match with 12 on a team-best 33 attacks. The freshman also posted her first career double-double by adding 18 digs to go with three service aces.

Gomes registered 44 assists in a losing effort, ranking her fifth on the school's single-match assists list and marking the most by a Valiant since Lu Bono had 46 on October 27, 2001 against William Paterson University.

Black added a season-high eight kills for Manhattanville as well, as all six Valiants recorded at least five kills apiece. Branca led all players with 20 digs.

Manhattanville (5-8, 0-3 Freedom) will face a very tough test in its next match, as the Valiants go on the road Tuesday to take on AVCA #5 Eastern University in a Freedom Conference at 7 p.m. in St. Davids, Pa.