Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 OLD WESTBURY, N.Y. – The Manhattanville women's volleyball team had a tough first day at the Old Westbury Panther Invitational, dropping a pair of close three-set matches to Montclair State and the host Panthers at the Clark Athletic Center on Saturday.
 
In the first match of the day, the Valiants came up just short in the first set and fell quickly after that in a 3-0 (26-24, 25-15, 25-12) defeat at the hands of Montclair State.
 
Junior Susy Camaj (Lagrangeville, N.Y./Millbrook) led the team with five kills and .190 hitting, while also tying for the match high with nine digs. Freshman Patricia Alfonso (Guaynabo, Puerto Rico/Colegio Puertoriqueno de Ninas) added three kills, five digs and a match-high five service aces, while classmate Carly Conca (New Rochelle, N.Y./New Rochelle) paced the squad with seven assists in three sets.
 
For Montclair State, Alyssa Baptiste led a balanced Red Hawk attack with eight kills and 17 assists, while Angela Campo led all players with 23 assists.
 
The Valiants had trouble offensively despite hitting .161 as a team, as Manhattanville recorded only 15 kills on 62 attempts compared to 41 kills on 86 attempts for the Red Hawks.
 
The second match of the afternoon also featured some tense action, but the visitors came up on the wrong end every time in falling to Old Westbury by a similar 3-0 (25-20, 25-14, 27-25) score.
 
Again it was the tandem of Camaj and Alfonso leading the Manhattanville attack by combining for 18 kills, but unfortunately the rest of the Valiant lineup connected for just two. Sophomore Alyssa Casino (Rye Brook, N.Y./Maria Regina) also was strong defensively for the Valiants, posting a match-best 20 digs, while Alfonso added 11 digs and Camaj recorded six aces as well.
 
Old Westbury's Jennifer Jean had nine kills and 10 digs, while Kimberly Catania had a solid overall day for the home team with seven kills, 25 assists, 11 digs and four aces.
 
Manhattanville (3-3) will be back for day two of the Panther Invitational tomorrow, facing off against Ramapo at noon and SUNY Maritime at 2 p.m.