CENTER VALLEY, Pa. – Juniors Kerry Mackey (Smithtown, N.Y./Christ the King) and Meagan Dattoma (Port Jefferson Station, N.Y./Comsewogue) led Manhattanville College with 11 kills each, but the Valiants could not dig out of an early hole in suffering a 3-1 (25-8, 25-20, 16-25, 25-16) defeat to DeSales University in MAC Freedom women's volleyball action on Tuesday night at Billera Hall.
 
The loss does not damage the postseason hopes for Manhattanville (13-7, 3-3 MAC Freedom), which sits in a tie for fourth place with King's (Pa.) College with one conference match remaining. A win over FDU-Florham or a Wilkes University loss at Misericordia University next Wednesday would both be enough to get the Valiants into the MAC Freedom Tournament for the first time ever.
 
Mackey moved into fourth place on the school's career list with her 11 kills, moving past Courtney Huisman '01 with 646 kills for her career. Dattoma nearly posted a double-double for the visitors, adding nine digs to her 11 kills, while sophomore Laura LiVolsi (Washingtonville, NY/Washingtonville) added six kills and a team-leading 18 digs. Senior Sam Miano (Bronx, N.Y./Maria Regina) also just missed a double-double of her own with 11 digs and nine assists, while fellow senior Adrianna Alves (New Rochelle, N.Y./Maria Regina) chipped in 16 digs as well.
 
The Valiants fell into an early 7-1 hole and never recovered in the opening set, as the team managed only four kills in a 25-8 loss. Manhattanville hit well in the second set, leading for most of the frame and eventually building up a 17-12 advantage after a Mackey ace; however, the Bulldogs closed on a 13-3 run to take a two-set lead.
 
Manhattanville had its best set in the third frame, putting down 11 kills and limiting DeSales to -.048 hitting to stay in the match with a 25-16 win. But the Bulldogs returned the favor in the fourth stanza, jumping out to a 13-4 lead and holding off the visitors the rest of the way.
 
The Valiants will close out the road portion of their regular-season slate on Saturday, when the team travels to Marywood University for a tri-match with the Pacers and Immaculata University beginning at 2 p.m.