PURCHASE, N.Y. – A resilient Manhattanville College squad came back from two sets down to force a decisive final frame, but visiting Misericordia University did not make an error in the final set as the Cougars escaped Kennedy Gymnasium with a wild 3-2 (26-24, 25-22, 21-25, 17-25, 15-5) victory in Freedom Conference women's volleyball action on Wednesday night.
 
Manhattanville (9-9, 1-2 Freedom) took the third and fourth sets to set up an exciting finish, but Misericordia (11-10, 3-0 Freedom) rebounded from a rough fourth frame to hit .412 as a team in the final stanza. The Cougars had seven kills on 17 attempts, including three on four attempts from Kellyn Swanson, to quash the Valiant comeback and keep the visitors unbeaten in conference play.
 
Freshman Kerry Mackey (Smithtown, N.Y./Christ the King) had a big match for the Valiants in a losing effort, putting down a season-best 15 kills and adding a match-high five blocks for a team-leading 20 points. Sophomore Alissa Primavera (Brewster, N.Y./Brewster) also recorded 15 kills and classmate Megan Quinabo (Pearl City, Hawaii/Kamehameha Schools-Kapalama) had the team's only double-double with 32 assists and 20 digs.
 
Misericordia was led by the tandem of Meghan Stack and Shelby Brochetti, both of whom finished with huge double-doubles. Stack led all players with 20 kills and also added 28 digs, while Brochetti posted 18 kills to go with a match-high 29 digs and two blocks. Nicole Tagerty also had a double-double for the Cougars with a match-best 46 assists and 16 digs.
 
The most pivotal set of the match may have been the first, in which the Valiants held a late lead but could not close out the Cougars. With the match tied at 20, the Valiants got three straight points – thanks to two Mackey kills – to take a 23-20 edge, but two kills by Natalie Burns and a Valiant error evened the score. A kill by junior Allison Regan (Carmel, N.Y./Carmel) staved off one set point at 24-23, but another Valiant error and a Paige Shaughnessy kill gave the first set to the visitors.
 
The Valiants came out of the gates very slow in the second set, allowing Misericordia to take a 14-4 lead before the home team attempted a comeback. Manhattanville got to within two points at 24-22 after two Primavera kills kept the set alive, but the comeback could not be completed and the Cougars grabbed a seemingly secure two-set lead.
 
The third set featured only one tie and no lead changes, but that worked well for the Valiants as the home team jumped out to a 6-2 lead and never looked back in extending the match. Mackey had five kills on 10 attempts to help keep the Valiants alive, Manhattanville recorded an impressive 17 kills with only two errors (.385) in the frame and allowed Misericordia more than two straight points only once.
 
Manhattanville again jumped out to a good start in the fourth set, scoring the first six points on the serve of senior Alyssa Casino (Rye Brook, N.Y./Maria Regina). Misericordia never got closer than four points the rest of the way, as the Cougars were limited to -.100 hitting with 13 errors in the set. Unfortunately for the Valiants, however, the errors disappeared for the visitors in the final set and the home team ran out of gas.
 
The Valiants will take a break from Freedom play and move over to the Commonwealth side on Saturday, as the Valiants take on Hood and Arcadia at the annual Middle Atlantic Conference Crossover event at Arcadia.