PURCHASE, N.Y. – Junior Alissa Primavera (Brewster, N.Y./Brewster) led all players with a match-high 19 kills and classmate Megan Quinabo (Pearl City, Hawaii/Kamehameha Schools-Kapalama) added 43 assists and 15 digs to lead the Manhattanville College women's volleyball team to a 3-1 (25-22, 16-25, 25-23, 25-14) victory over the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy on Wednesday night at Kennedy Gym.
 
It was a total team effort for Manhattanville (4-0), which equaled the second-best start to a season in program history with the fourth consecutive victory. In addition to the two juniors, sophomore Kerry Mackey (Smithtown, N.Y./Christ the King) also had a great overall night with 11 kills, nine digs, four blocks and two aces, while senior Allison Regan (Carmel, N.Y./Carmel) chipped in nine kills on .381 hitting. Freshman Christina Nardi (Yorktown Heights, N.Y./Yorktown) also recorded a team-best 19 digs to lead the squad defensively.
 
Merchant Marine (4-1) was led by Brianne Cook with a team-best 13 kills, while Kayla Gleason had a double-double for the Mariners with 33 assists and 13 digs.
 
The tone for the match was set in the opening frame, as the two squads combined for 11 ties and eight changes in a very tense first set. The final tie of the set came at 18-all after a Mackey kill, and that was followed by a USMMA error, an ace from junior Adrianna Alves (New Rochelle, N.Y./Maria Regina), and another Mackey put down to give Manhattanville a 21-18 lead that the squad never gave up.
 
Merchant Marine came back with a strong second set to even the match, putting down 13 kills with only two errors. But the offense faded away for the Mariners down the stretch, as the team managed just 12 kills combined over the final two frames.
 
The Valiants, meanwhile, kept rolling offensively with 12 kills in the third set and 13 more in the clinching fourth frame. In the third set, USMMA held a 14-11 lead midway through the stanza before the home team rattled off 10 of the next 13 points to take a 21-17 lead and eventually take the set. Manhattanville then came out strong in the final set, using a 5-0 run of two Mackey kills, two aces from junior Samantha Miano (Bronx, N.Y./Maria Regina) and a kill from sophomore Meagan Dattoma (Port Jefferson Station, N.Y./Comsewogue) to take a 14-6 lead and never look back.
 
Manhattanville will look to match the best start to a season in program history on Friday, when the team takes on Middlebury College on day one of the Smith Invitational Volleyball Tournament beginning at 8 p.m.