Box Score Boxscore
PURCHASE, N.Y. – In a match that lasted well over two hours and sadly had to see one of the teams lose, Wilkes overcame a 2-1 set deficit and then scored the final five points of the fifth set to overtake Manhattanville, 3-2 (25-18, 23-25, 14-25, 25-21, 15-11) in a thrilling Freedom Conference women's volleyball match on Tuesday evening at Kennedy Gymnasium.
The five-setter produced some eye-popping stats for both teams, including triple-doubles for Manhattanville senior Makana Gomes (Honolulu, Hawaii/'Iolani) and Wilkes senior Kate McGurk. Gomes recorded 10 kills, 20 assists and 26 digs for the Valiants, while McGurk had a match-high 37 assists to go with 12 kills and 16 digs. In addition, Colonel sophomore Erin Nothstein recorded an amazing 52 digs, while freshman Sam Delmer (Boise, Idaho/Eagle) led Manhattanville with a season-high 32 digs of her own.
Seniors Ally Johnson (Branford, Conn./Branford) and Damaris Morales (Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic/Colegio San Jose) also posted double-doubles for the home team and reached some milestones in the process. Johnson had 10 kills to go with 25 digs, becoming the fifth Valiant to eclipse 1,000 digs for a career (1,010) and also moving into ninth place all-time in kills (450) in program history. Morales, meanwhile, had 31 digs and 10 kills to assume 10th place in career kills (442).
And despite the teams combining for 103 kills, no player had more than 12 on the night: sophomore Susy Camaj (Lagrangeville, N.Y./Millbrook) for Manhattanville and McGurk, sophomore Paige Trusty and classmate Casey Bohan for Wilkes all ended up on the number.
After the teams split the first four frames, the deciding fifth set was a perfect microcosm for the match as a whole, as every point was tightly contested and neither team gave an inch.
Manhattanville maintained a lead for the first part of the frame, but Wilkes' Emily DeBuck recorded a kill on the 10th attack of the point to bring the visitors back within one at 5-4. That run kept going, giving the Colonels a 9-6 lead. However, Manhattanville came back with four straight points to regain the lead, with the last score coming on an epic 21-attack point that finally ended on an error from Wilkes' Paige Pientka.
But after a Wilkes timeout down 11-10, Bohan posted a kill to knot the score at 11 and then McGurk stepped to the service line. After a service ace in front of Delmer put the visitors up one, McGurk caught a huge break when her serve clipped the net and just fell over for another ace and a two-point lead. After a Valiant attack error brought up match point, McGurk ended a 12-attack point with a kill to give Wilkes the victory.
Manhattanville (12-12, 1-5 Freedom) will have little time to recover from tonight's match, as the Valiants continue Senior Week with a return to the Kennedy Gym floor tomorrow night beginning at 7 p.m. against Lehman. Wilkes (3-22, 1-5 Freedom) will host FDU-Florham on Tuesday at 7 p.m.
