BOSTON, Mass. – Junior Kerry Mackey (Smithtown, N.Y./Christ the King) led an efficient Valiant attack with a match-high 14 kills on .480 hitting as the Manhattanville College women's volleyball team defeated Anna Maria College, 3-0 (25-9, 25-19, 25-13), in the first round of the 2016 ECAC Div. III Women's Volleyball Championships, held at Emerson College's Bobbi Brown and Steven Plofker Gym on Wednesday night.
 
With the win, Manhattanville (18-9) advances to the quarterfinal round of the tournament, where the second-seeded Valiants will face off with the top-seeded team in its four-team region, Emerson, on Saturday at 2 p.m. The site of the quarterfinals and subsequent rounds will be played at Lebanon Valley College in Annville, Pa.
 
The Valiants had little trouble offensively with the AMCATS, hitting .375 as a team and putting down 45 kills with only nine errors. In addition to Mackey's stellar night, classmate Asia Reid (Mount Vernon, N.Y./Nellie A. Thornton High School) added 12 kills on .500 hitting and fellow junior Meagan Dattoma (Port Jefferson Station, N.Y./Comsewogue) chipped in 10 kills and nine digs. Sophomore Laura LiVolsi (Washingtonville, NY/Washingtonville) rounded out the attack with eight kills of her own.
 
Defensively, senior Sam Miano (Bronx, N.Y./Maria Regina) recorded a match-high 14 digs, while classmate Megan Quinabo (Pearl City, Hawaii/Kamehameha Schools-Kapalama) added 34 more assists to officially double the second-place total on the school's career assists list.
 
Manhattanville was completely dominant in the first set, hitting .636 with 14 kills on 22 errorless attacks to grab the early lead. The Valiants started off with six straight points and led 10-1 before Anna Maria's first kill of the match, never allowing the AMCATS into the set. Dattoma led the team with five kills to open up the contest.
 
The Valiants put down 14 more kills on 32 attacks (.375) in the second set, which was the closest of the night. Manhattanville held a slight 9-8 lead before a kill by Reid started a string of five straight Valiant put downs, the last three of which came from Mackey to make it a 14-8 score. The AMCATS never got closer than five the rest of the way, as Mackey led the team with five kills in the stanza.
 
Manhattanville closed out Anna Maria with 17 kills in the final set while holding the opposition to only three kills and a negative hitting percentage. The Valiants again jumped out to an early 8-2 lead and allowed the AMCATS to earn consecutive points on their serve only once. It was Reid's turn to lead the team in the final frame, as she put down seven kills – including the Valiants' last four kills of the match.