MVille-Bard Boxscore
MVille-SVC Boxscore

BENNINGTON, Vt. – The Manhattanville women's volleyball team is off to one of the best starts to a season in program history after sweeping through the Southern Vermont College Tri-Match on Saturday afternoon at the Mountaineer Athletic Center. The Valiants began the day by coming back from two sets down for a thrilling 3-2 (16-25, 21-25, 25-20, 26-24, 15-11) win over Bard College, then came right back to outlast host Southern Vermont in another five-set thriller, 3-2 (10-25, 25-19, 19-25, 25-22, 16-14), to complete the sweep.

For Manhattanville, the win moves the team to 3-0 on the season, tying the 2000 squad for the most wins to start a year in program history. In addition, the team won two matches on the same day for the first time since going 2-1 at a quad-match in 2001 and swept a tri-match for the first time since defeating Mount Saint Vincent College and Bard College on October 14, 2000.

Junior Makana Gomes (Honolulu, Hawaii) was tremendous for Manhattanville in leading them to victory, recording 31 assists versus the Raptors and then posting a career-high 23 kills against the Mountaineers, tied for the second-most kills in a single match in program history behind only the 25 of Jen Riordan in 1987. For the day, Gomes recorded 32 kills, 47 assists and 39 digs, led by her first career triple-double with 23 kills, 16 assists and 23 digs versus Southern Vermont.

Gomes was not the only Valiant to excel on Saturday, however, as each member of the six-person squad made significant contributions. Freshman Jocelyn Branca (Eastchester, N.Y.) finished second on the team with 22 kills on the day and also tied Gomes for the team lead in digs with 39, including her first career double-double with a team-high 15 kills and 21 digs versus Bard. Junior Damaris Morales (Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic) also added 20 kills and 34 digs to complement Gomes and Branca on the offensive end.

Settling into her role as setter, junior Ally Johnson (Branford, Conn.) led Manhattanville with 52 assists on the afternoon, including a career-high 31 against Southern Vermont, while also contributing 14 kills and 34 digs. Classmate Maggie Black (Seattle, Wash.) also reached double figures in kills with 10 and recorded 30-plus digs with 34 as well.

In addition, freshman Susy Camaj (Lagrangeville, N.Y.) provided a much-needed defensive presence, posting a team-high eight blocks (four solo, four assist) to go along with her 11 kills, 22 digs and a team-leading eight service aces.

As a team, Manhattanville posted over 100 kills in the two matches, recording 57 kills against Bard and 52 more against Southern Vermont. The 57 kills versus Bard are the most by a Valiant squad since the program was re-formed prior to the 2007 campaign.