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WILKES-BARRE, Pa. – Led by a season-high 11 kills from sophomore
Susy Camaj (Lagrangeville, N.Y./Millbrook), the Manhattanville women's volleyball team finally snapped its long Freedom Conference losing streak and also extended its overall winning streak to three with a hard-fought 3-1 (25-22, 25-21, 22-25, 25-22) victory over King's (Pa.) College on Wednesday evening at Scandlon Gymnasium.
The win snaps a 23-match Freedom Conference losing streak for the Valiants that dates back to the program's only previous conference victory, a 3-0 win over one-year member Alvernia on September 20, 2008. The program had been 1-31 against Freedom foes in four-plus seasons since leaving the Skyline Conference for the much more competitive Freedom Conference in 2007, including a 3-1 loss to the Monarchs just a year ago.
But that all changed on Wednesday night in a battle of two very evenly matched teams, as no set was decided by more than four points and three of the four frames saw only a three-point differential. This time around, however, it was Manhattanville that stood tall on the big points and came away with the victory.
Camaj led Manhattanville offensively with her 11 kills and was joined in double figures by freshman Sam Delmer (Boise, Idaho/Eagle) with 10 kills. Both players also reached double digits in digs as well to complete their double-doubles, as Delmer tied for the match high with 24 and Camaj chipped in 12.
Senior Damaris Morales (Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic/Colegio San Jose) tied Delmer for the match high with 24 digs and also added eight assists, five kills and a match-best six service aces, while freshman Veronica Ferreiras (Rockville Centre, N.Y./Malverne) just missed a double-double of her own with 21 assists and nine digs. Senior Ally Johnson (Branford, Conn./Branford) added eight kills and 19 digs, and classmate Maggie Black (Seattle, Wash./The Center School) had four kills and nine digs as well in a total team effort.
The Valiants were steady offensively throughout the evening, as the team hit above .100 in all four sets and finished at .139 for the night with 41 kills and 18 errors on 165 attacks. The squad reached double figures in kills in all three sets Manhattanville won, including a match-high 12 kills in the opener and 10 each in the second and fourth frames.
Manhattanville (12-9, 1-4 Freedom), winners of three in a row for the second time this season, will look to keep the momentum going this weekend at Saturday's Rhode Island College Tri-Match, beginning at noon against WPI. King's (3-18, 1-4 Freedom) will host AVCA #5 Eastern on Tuesday night.
