PURCHASE, N.Y. – Sophomore Kerry Mackey (Smithtown, N.Y./Christ the King) hit .451 with 26 kills in seven sets to lead the Manhattanville College women's volleyball team to an impressive sweep of Farmingdale State College and William Paterson University at the first Valiant Tri-Match of the 2015 season, held on Saturday at Kennedy Gymnasium.
 
The Valiants started the day with a 3-0 (25-11, 25-21, 25-20) win over the Rams, and then overcame a tough first set to take down the Pioneers in four sets, 3-1 (13-25, 25-17, 25-15, 25-12). The win over William Paterson snapped a 25-match losing streak to WPU and was the squad's first victory over the school since September 5, 1987, while the victory makes Manhattanville 8-2 for just the third time in program history and the first time since 1988.
 
Mackey came up big to lead a Valiant offense that had arguably its best offensive day of the year on Saturday. Manhattanville put down 96 kills with only 24 errors (.289 hitting) on the afternoon, with its top-three attackers all hitting over .300. In addition to Mackey, junior Alissa Primavera (Brewster, N.Y./Brewster) hit .310 with 21 kills and a team-best 26 digs, while sophomore Asia Reid (Mount Vernon, N.Y./Nellie A. Thornton High School) had 18 kills on .419 hitting over the seven sets.
 
Mackey led Manhattanville with 11 kills and a .474 hitting percentage in the first match of the day, as the Valiants started off their Saturday with a 3-0 win over Farmingdale. The sophomore had another efficient match, putting down 11 of her 19 attempts with only two errors. Reid put down a season-high nine kills on 16 attacks and Primavera added seven kills while tying classmate Samantha Miano (Bronx, N.Y./Maria Regina) for the team-high with eight digs apiece.
 
After spotting Farmingdale a 4-1 lead to start the match, Manhattanville came back with a 17-3 run to quickly take control of the opening set, with Mackey contributing three kills and an ace during the stretch. Farmingdale jumped out to another quick lead in the second set and maintained it for a while, holding a comfortable lead at 19-12 before the Valiants stormed back by closing the frame on a 13-2 run to take a two-set lead.
 
The final set was easily the most competitive of the match, featuring 10 ties. The set was knotted at 12 before another Valiant run – this time a 10-2 stretch – opened up the match and allowed the home team to pick up the win.
  
Manhattanville made very few mistakes in its second match of the day, hammering home 56 kills and making only nine errors in the four-set comeback victory over William Paterson.
 
Mackey led the Valiants with 15 kills and one error (.438 hitting) to go with four blocks, while Primavera was excellent on both sides of the court with 14 kills to go with a match-high 18 digs. Junior Megan Quinabo (Pearl City, Hawaii/Kamehameha Schools-Kapalama) added a season-high 44 assists – tied for the third-most in her career and seventh-best in school history – in addition to 14 digs, four kills and three blocks.
 
After William Paterson recorded 20 kills to take the first frame, the Valiants came out firing in the second to even the match. Recording 14 kills and 20 points overall before the team's first error of the frame, Manhattanville used an 8-2 run to break open a 7-all score. In all, the Valiants hit .500 (18 kills on 32 attacks) in the set.
 
The home team also closed down the third set with a good stretch of play, outscoring the Pioneers 13-4 to end the stanza and put the Valiants ahead by a set. Looking to close out the match, Manhattanville was nearly flawless in the fourth frame, recording 16 kills with only one error. The Valiants jumped out to a 14-2 lead and never looked back in picking up the set win and the match victory.
 
In the middle match of the day, William Paterson held off Farmingdale in the first two sets and then cruised in the third, picking up a 3-0 (25-21, 26-24, 25-12) victory. Erin Roach led the Pioneers with 13 kills and 12 digs, while Kendall Caruso also had a double-double with 26 assists and 11 digs. Barbara Wright paced the Rams with 11 kills and .476 hitting in a losing effort.
 
Manhattanville will look to keep the momentum going as the squad gets back into MAC Freedom play on Tuesday night, when the Valiants welcome DeSales University to Kennedy Gym for a key conference clash beginning at 7 p.m.