Boxscore

PURCHASE, N.Y. – The Manhattanville women's volleyball team used a balanced offensive attack and some solid defensive play to give head coach Daniel Cruz his first collegiate victory with a 3-0 (25-22, 25-15, 25-20) sweep of Purchase College in both teams' 2010 season-opener on Thursday night at a steamy Purchase Pavilion.

For Manhattanville, the victory is the team's fourth consecutive season-opening win dating back to the re-establishment of the program in 2007 and helped retain its Anderson Hill Road bragging rights over Purchase, as the Valiants moved to 7-0 all-time against their neighbors from up the road.

No Valiant had an outstanding offensive game, but every player recorded at least one kill and one service ace as the visitors managed to capitalize on multiple Purchase errors and win all the key points. Junior Damaris Morales (Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic/Colegio San Jose) (Puerto Plata, D.R.) led all players with six kills, while freshmen Susy Camaj (Lagrangeville, N.Y./Millbrook) (Lagrangeville, N.Y.) and Jocelyn Branca (Eastchester, N.Y./Eastchester) (Eastchester, N.Y.) posted five kills each in their collegiate debuts.

The Valiants were also deadly from the service line, compiling a total of 15 aces – including a match-high four each from juniors Makana Gomes (Honolulu, Hawaii/'Iolani) (Honolulu, Hawaii) and Ally Johnson (Branford, Conn./Branford) (Branford, Conn.). In addition, Gomes posted nine assists and also tied Camaj for the game-high in digs with eight.

The first set was back-and-forth, as Purchase held the lead for the first half but the Valiants never trailed by more than four points. The frame was tied at 16, 17 and 18 before the Panthers scored the next two points to take a 20-18 lead. However, the Valiants rattled off the final seven points of the set on the serve of junior Maggie Black (Seattle, Wash./The Center School) (Seattle, Wash.) to win, 25-18, and fire the opening salvo.

Manhattanville did not need to rally back in the second set, as the visitors took the first three points on the serve of Gomes and never looked back. After trading points for a few serves, Manhattanville built up a 10-6 lead and then once again used a long streak on Black's serve – this time an 8-0 run helped by three aces and three Purchase errors – to open up a 17-7 advantage. The squad built its lead up to as many as 12 at 22-10 before finally earning a 25-14 win in the middle frame.

In the third set, the Valiants once again built an early lead at 6-2, but the Panthers showed some fight by going on a 7-0 run to take its first lead since the first set, 9-6. The teams continued to trade leads before a key 7-2 run put Manhattanville up for good at 20-16. Up by four, the visitors were content to trade points for the remainder of the match, finally pulling out the win on their second match point thanks to a Purchase service error.

Manhattanville (1-0, 0-0 Freedom) will be back in action on Saturday at the Southern Vermont College Tri-Match, as the team looks to start the year 2-0 with a 1 p.m. contest against Bard College. Purchase (1-0, 0-0 Skyline) remains at home to take on Brooklyn College on Tuesday at 7 p.m.