Box Score 1 |
Box Score 3 PURCHASE, N.Y. – Behind a dominating offensive performance in their second match of the afternoon, the Manhattanville women's volleyball team picked up a split at the second Valiant Tri-Match of the season, held on Saturday afternoon at Kennedy Gymnasium.
The Valiants defeated Sarah Lawrence by a 3-0 (25-11, 25-20, 25-20) score to conclude the afternoon after falling to William Paterson in three sets, 3-0 (25-14, 25-13, 25-17) in the first match of the day. The Pioneers ended the day with two wins after a tense 3-0 (25-21, 25-22, 25-16) win over the Gryphons in Saturday's middle match.
Against Sarah Lawrence, many Valiants had excellent days. Junior
Susy Camaj (Lagrangeville, N.Y./Millbrook) was all over the court for Manhattanville, leading all players with her 12 kills as well as with her career-high 23 digs. Freshmen
Mirusha Mujaj (Bronx, N.Y./Yorktown) and
Patricia Alfonso (Guaynabo, Puerto Rico/Colegio Puertoriqueno de Ninas) had seven kills apiece, with Alfonso also adding 15 digs of her own, and fellow freshman
Jillian Chittenden (Rye, N.Y./Rye) had five kills without an error. Sophomore
Veronica Ferreiras (Rockville Centre, N.Y./Malverne) led all players with 28 assists and tied her career high with six kills, followed by classmate
Alyssa Casino (Rye Brook, N.Y./Maria Regina) with 18 digs, four assists and a kill.
The first set was tied at five early on after a Mujaj kill, and the Valiants rattled off six straight points after that on Mujaj's serve to open up an 11-5 edge. The home team then scored 10 of the next 14 points to take a 21-9 advantage before cruising the rest of the way. In the opening frame, Mujaj and Camaj led the team with four kills apiece while Casino had six digs.
Sophomore
Janelle Lawrence (New Windsor, N.Y./Newburgh Free Academy) opened up the middle frame with two of her team-leading four service aces, helping Manhattanville out to an early 7-1 lead. Sarah Lawrence slowly chipped away at the Valiant lead, eventually getting back within two at 15-13, but kills by Alfonso and Chittenden and three Gryphon errors helped get the lead back up to seven at 20-13 and the Valiants were able to close out the set. Camaj led the team with four kills and eight digs in the frame.
The third set saw Manhattanville again earn an early lead and Sarah Lawrence could never fully get back to even, partially because of a solid Valiant offensive attack that had 15 kills and four errors (.244 hitting) in the frame. It was still a close set at 19-17 after a kill by Jomana Abdallah, but Alfonso picked up a kill and the Valiants earned the next four points as well, helped by two Chittenden kills as well as a kill and an ace from Ferreiras, to secure the victory.
The first match of the day was not as successful, as Taylor Woegens and Shauna VanDeRee combined for 26 kills to lead William Paterson to a straight-set win. Woegens led all players with 16 kills (on .310 hitting) and added eight digs, while VanDeRee registered 10 kills (.381 hitting) and eight digs of her own.
For Manhattanville, Camaj had 11 kills and only one error offensively, while four Valiants reached double figures in digs, led by Ferreiras with 16 to go with her team-leading 19 assists.
The opening set was close to start out, with the Valiants down only four at 15-11 midway through the frame. But the Pioneers closed with a 10-3 run, helped by four Woegens kills, to take the opening frame. WPU opened up its lead much earlier in the middle set, as six straight points gave the visitors a 9-3 edge and the Valiants never got within four the rest of the way.
Manhattanville hung with William Paterson in the third set, evening the score at 10 on a Lawrence ace. But four straight Pioneer points put the visitors back on top and they held on for the win and the sweep.
Manhattanville (7-9) will remain at home on Wednesday night, as the Valiants get back into Freedom Conference play with a key matchup against Delaware Valley beginning at 7 p.m. The live GoValiants.TV broadcast from Kennedy Gym will begin at approximately 6:55 p.m.
