PURCHASE, N.Y. - The Manhattanville College women's volleyball team looks to make the most of its first conference tournament appearance in 15 years this week, as the third-seeded Valiants travel to second-seeded DeSales University for the MAC Freedom Tournament semifinals on Wednesday night.

WHEN: Wednesday, November 2 – 7:00 p.m.

WHERE: Billera Hall (Center Valley, Pa.)
Tickets for the game are $5.00 for adults, $4.00 for seniors, $2.00 for students and free for all kids six and under. And if you make the trip to Pennsylvania, you can check in via the Castle Crew app to let us know that you are supporting your Valiants!

Fans who cannot make it to DeSales for the game can follow live stats and live video at http://www.govaliants.com/live, as well as following Manhattanville Athletics on Twitter (@GoValiants) for live updates. 

POSTSEASON HISTORY: Manhattanville snapped the school's longest active conference tournament drought this season, as the Valiants are making their first-ever MAC Freedom Tournament appearance and the first conference tournament berth overall since reaching the Skyline Conference championship game in 2001. That year marked the end of a run that featured 19 straight postseason appearances, including a pair of Hudson Valley Women's Athletic Conference Tournament titles in 1986 and 1998.

ALL-TIME SERIES: Manhattanville has never defeated DeSales in 10 all-time meetings dating back to 2007, with the Valiants only taking a set off the Bulldogs in each of the last two years.
 
LAST MEETING: DeSales defeated Manhattanville, 3-1 (25-8, 25-20, 16-25, 25-16), on October 18 in Center Valley. Juniors Kerry Mackey (Smithtown, N.Y./Christ the King) and Meagan Dattoma (Port Jefferson Station, N.Y./Comsewogue) led the visitors with 11 kills each, while sophomore Laura LiVolsi (Washingtonville, NY/Washingtonville) added six kills and a team-best 18 digs. The Valiants held a 17-12 lead in the second set but could not hold it, and then dominated play in the third set before a key injury early in the fourth set quelled the team's momentum.

PRESEASON POLL PROVED WRONG: Manhattanville received a little respect in the MAC Freedom preseason coaches poll, but the team was still only picked to finish in a tie for sixth among the eight conference teams. Wins over preseason #5 Misericordia University, preseason #4 King's (Pa.) College and preseason #3 FDU-Florham helped the Valiants vault all the way to third at the end of the year.

STANDING TALL: Manhattanville is led offensively by a pair of stellar junior middle hitters, Kerry Mackey (Smithtown, N.Y./Christ the King) and Asia Reid (Mount Vernon, N.Y./Nellie A. Thornton High School). Mackey currently ranks eighth in school history with 252 kills this year and ranks first in the MAC Freedom in hitting percentage (.331) and fourth in kills per set (3.07). Reid is just one back in ninth place on the school's single-season list with 251 kills and ranks fifth in the conference in kills per set (3.06) and eighth in hitting percentage (.261). The teammates are only the third tandem in school history to both record over 250 kills in a season, with Mackey also doing it last season alongside Alissa Primavera '16.

LENDING AN ASSIST: Senior setter Megan Quinabo (Pearl City, Hawaii/Kamehameha Schools-Kapalama) is the catalyst of the Valiant offense. Quinabo ranks third in the MAC Freedom by averaging 8.51 assists per set, and her 698 assists this season are currently fifth on the school's single-season list. The school's all-time assists leader needs only four more for 3,000 for her career, and she is also just six aces and 24 digs away from second place on those school all-time lists as well.

JUST DIG IT: The Valiants have several solid options on the defensive side, led by senior libero Adrianna Alves (New Rochelle, N.Y./Maria Regina), who has posted a career-high 343 digs to lead the team and rank fourth in the MAC Freedom in assists per set (4.18). Alves ranks 14th in school history with 746 digs, just 49 more than classmate Sam Miano (Bronx, N.Y./Maria Regina), who has 218 this season and ranks 15th all-time at the school with 697.

ABOUT THE BULLDOGS: DeSales is making its 10th straight MAC Freedom Tournament appearance and the 14th in school history since 1997. The Bulldogs have advanced to the championship game in nine of the last 10 seasons, but have been knocked out of the postseason by Eastern University every year since the Eagles joined the MAC Freedom in 2008.
 
DeSales is led offensively by Gabby Savite`, who ranks second in the MAC Freedom in both kills (439) and kills per set (3.72) and also seventh in digs (439). Lisa Wallitsch directs the offense with a conference-best 1,216 assists (10.31/set) and ranks second on the team with 56 aces, while Natalie Gray is the defensive leader with a conference-best 616 digs to go with a team- and conference-leading 58 aces.

WHAT'S AT STAKE: The winner of Wednesday's match advances to the MAC Freedom Tournament championship, where they will face off with the winner of Wednesday's other semifinal between top-seeded Eastern University and fourth-seeded FDU-Florham. The title tilt will take place on Saturday, October 5 at the home of the highest remaining seed.