SCRANTON, Pa. – The Manhattanville College women's volleyball team split a pair of tough non-conference matches on Friday night at the University of Scranton Tri-Match, as the Valiants defeated Hartwick College, 3-1, before falling to the host Royals by the same 3-1 score at the John Long Center.
 
Senior Kerry Mackey (Smithtown, N.Y./Christ the King) led Manhattanville (12-7) with 24 kills in the eight sets, followed by classmate Asia-Morgohn Reid (Mount Vernon, N.Y./Nellie A. Thornton) with 16 kills, and both seniors also added six blocks. Sophomore Austen Brauer (Hastings-on-Hudson, N.Y./Hastings) led all Valiants with seven blocks in eight sets of action, while freshman Monica Lopez (Caguas, Puerto Rico/Notre Dame) paced the team with 58 digs and five service aces.
 
Manhattanville 3, Hartwick 1 (25-21, 18-25, 25-23, 26-24)
 
Manhattanville started the day with a hard-fought 3-1 win over Hartwick, as the Valiants used some late-set heroics in the final two frames to pull out the victory.
 
Mackey put down a team-high 14 kills against the Hawks, followed by classmate Meagan Dattoma (Port Jefferson Station, N.Y./Comsewogue) with 10 kills and 22 digs for her third double-double of the season. Freshman Keisha Schutte (Ewa Beach, Hawaii/James Campbell) also posted a double-double with 39 assists and 12 digs to go with four blocks and two kills, while Lopez led all players with 31 digs and four aces.
 
The Valiants led by as many as nine points (17-9) in the first set before a Hartwick run got the Hawks within one at 18-17, but a kill and an ace from Dattoma halted the run and the Valiants held on from there.
 
Hartwick took the second set and looked to be in control in the third frame as well, holding a 23-18 lead late in the frame. But Manhattanville battled back, with big kills from Mackey and Dattoma followed by back-to-back blocks by Mackey and Brauer to give the Valiants a set point that Lopez converted with an ace.
 
Manhattanville staged another big comeback in the fourth set to finish off the win. Down 23-19, a Mackey kill and a Brauer ace started a match-ending 7-1 run for the Valiants that was finished off with a Mackey kill.
 
Scranton 3, Manhattanvile 1 (25-18, 19-25, 25-18, 25-15)
 
Manhattanville battled hard in its second match against a Scranton team that is receiving votes in the latest AVCA Div. III Coaches Top 25 Poll and 26-2 overall on the season, taking the second set but ultimately falling in four frames.
 
Mackey again led the team with 10 kills, followed by Reid with nine. Schutte came one dig short of another double-double with 25 assists and nine digs, while Lopez continued to rack up the digs with a match-high 27.
 
After Manhattanville took a 9-7 lead early in the first set, Scranton rattled off seven straight points to grab a 14-9 lead and never looked back. But the Valiants rebounded with an excellent second stanza, using a 10-2 run to open up a 17-9 advantage and an eventual 25-19 win.
 
Scranton went on a decisive 13-2 run to open up a big lead on the way to a third-set victory, and scored 14 of the first 18 points in the fourth set to run away with the set and the match.
 
Manhattanville will return home to Kennedy Gymnasium on Tuesday for a key MAC Freedom matchup against first-place DeSales University beginning at 7 p.m. The Valiants will also be raising money for Dig For The Cure at the match.