Box Score PURCHASE, N.Y. – It was a thrilling start to Freedom Conference play for the Manhattanville College women's volleyball team on Wednesday night, as the Valiants rallied to defeat FDU-Florham for the third straight season by a 3-2 (19-25, 25-20, 32-30, 19-25, 15-10) score at a raucous Kennedy Gymnasium.
 
Manhattanville (7-5, 1-0 Freedom) starts its conference slate with a win for the second time in three years at the expense of the Devils, giving the Valiants three straight wins over their closest conference rival after FDU had taken 14 of the first 17 all-time meetings between the schools.
 
Every Valiant made a contribution in the victory, perhaps none more than senior Amanda Materasso (Putnam Valley, N.Y./Putnam Valley), who cruised to new career highs with 11 kills and 14 digs for her first career double-double. Sophomore Alissa Primavera (Brewster, N.Y./Brewster) also registered 11 kills to move into 10th place all-time at Manhattanville with an even 500, while junior Allison Regan (Carmel, N.Y./Carmel) tacked on nine kills and freshman Kerry Mackey (Smithtown, N.Y./Christ the King) added eight of her own.
 
Sophomore Megan Quinabo (Pearl City, Hawaii/Kamehameha Schools-Kapalama) also had a big match with a day-best 42 assists, the eighth-most in a single match in program history, to go with 15 digs and a match-high six service aces. Senior Alyssa Casino (Rye Brook, N.Y./Maria Regina) led all players with 31 digs to move into second in career digs at the school, 22 away from the school's all-time record.
 
For FDU-Florham (8-9, 0-1 Freedom), Melissa Gaffney led all players with 15 kills and added 13 digs , while Codi Inloes-Williams had a superb all-around effort with triple-double totals of 41 assists, 18 digs and 10 kills in a losing effort.
 
After the two teams split the first two sets, the third set proved to be pivotal on Wednesday night, as the frame featured 15 ties and 10 lead changes. The Valiants looked to be in trouble down 19-15, but a quick 7-2 run put the home team ahead at 22-20. Manhattanville had two set points at 24-22 but could not convert, sending the set into extras. After the Devils killed off four set points, the Valiants turned aside FDU on four set-point chances, getting two kills from Regan and one each from Materasso and Mackey to stay alive. With the set tied at 30, back-to-back devil attack errors clinched the key frame.
 
FDU-Florham would not go away, however, winning the fourth frame and setting up a decisive fifth set. After FDU scored five of the first seven points, back-to-back kills from sophomore Sam Miano (Bronx, N.Y./Maria Regina) and a Casino ace helped give the home team back the lead at 6-5. Kills from Mackey and Materasso opened up the Valiant lead to three at 10-7, and three straight Devil errors set up a match point that was converted on a Quinabo dump over the net to finally end the contest.
 
Manhattanville will return to action on Saturday, as the Valiants travel to Ursinus for a tri-match with the Bears and Gettysburg beginning at 2 p.m.