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Box Score 2 MVille-WPU Boxscore
MVille-St. Joseph's Boxscore
WAYNE, N.J. – The Manhattanville women's volleyball team knew that its undefeated stretch would not last forever, but even after suffering its first loss of the season the Valiants still managed to rebound and split a pair of matches against the host Ospreys and Saint Joseph's (L.I.) at the William Paterson Tri-Match on Saturday afternoon at the WPU Rec Center.
The Valiants started the day with a 3-0 (25-16, 25-23, 31-29) loss at the hands of William Paterson, but the squad came back to shake off a first-set loss to best Saint Joseph's in four sets, 3-1 (15-25, 25-14, 25-22, 25-22).
Freshman Sam Delmer (Boise, Idaho/Eagle) was a major bright spot on the afternoon for the Valiants, as she led the team offensively with 24 kills and defensively with 36 digs. Senior Damaris Morales (Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic/Colegio San Jose) was the team's top hitter percentage-wise, as she hit at a .343 clip with 13 kills and just one error. Fellow senior Makana Gomes (Honolulu, Hawaii/'Iolani) also continued her good overall play with 19 kills, 28 assists and a team-leading 45 assists on the afternoon.
Despite getting shut out by William Paterson in the first match of the day, the visitors were very competitive in both the second and third sets and came just a few points short of taking two of the first three sets against the also undefeated Ospreys.
Manhattanville actually had a very good hitting day against Paterson, as the Valiants hit .200 as a team and put down 43 kills with only 17 errors. Delmer led the way with a breakout performance, more than doubling her previous season-high with 19 kills (and just three errors) and also chipping in a match-leading 17 digs.
Gomes came just a few kills short of a triple-double, registering 30 assists, 13 digs and eight kills, while Morales added eight digs and seven kills as well for the home team in the defeat.
Manhattanville seemed to take the WPU loss with it at the start of its next match against Saint Joseph's, but the Valiants overcame a lackluster first set to storm back and take the next three to end the day with a split.
This time it was Gomes who had the headlining performance, as the senior recorded the third triple-double of her career with 11 kills, 15 assists and 15 digs to go with a pair of blocks.
Morales added six kills while a trio of Valiants – Delmer, senior Ally Johnson (Branford, Conn./Branford) and sophomore Susy Camaj (Lagrangeville, N.Y./Millbrook) – had five kills apiece. Delmer also added a match-best 19 digs while classmate Veronica Ferreiras (Rockville Centre, N.Y./Malverne) added a team-leading 16 assists as well in the comeback victory.
Manhattanville (6-1) will hope to transfer its recent confidence into a better showing in Freedom Conference play, as the Valiants start up conference competition on Wednesday night at 7 p.m. at FDU-Florham.
