FARMINGDALE, N.Y. – The Manhattanville College women's volleyball team continued its impressive start to the 2017 season, increasing its winning streak to five matches with a pair of 3-1 wins over 2016 NCAA Tournament teams Farmingdale State College and Ramapo College on Saturday at the Farmingdale Tri-Match.
 
With the win, Manhattanville (5-1) has won five straight matches for the first time since 2015 and has picked up five straight non-conference victories for the first time since starting the 2011 season 6-0. The team's first six matches have come against five NCAA Tournament teams from a year ago, including a Ramapo team that is receiving votes in this week's American Volleyball Coaches Association Div. III Coaches Top 25 Poll.
 
Senior Kerry Mackey (Smithtown, N.Y./Christ the King) led the Valiant attack with 27 kills on .282 hitting and four blocks, followed by classmate Asia-Morgohn Reid (Mount Vernon, N.Y./Nellie A. Thornton) with 20 kills on .283 hitting and three blocks. Freshman AnnaMaria Evers (Bronx, N.Y./Preston) came up huge in setting duty on Saturday, finishing with 46 assists to go with 29 digs in six sets, while classmate Monica Lopez (Caguas, Puerto Rico/Notre Dame) continued to be all over the court defensively, recording 64 digs in addition to 16 assists and four kills in eight sets.
 
Manhattanville 3, Farmingdale State 1 (25-22, 25-21, 19-25, 26-24)
Mackey led all players with 15 kills and freshman Keisha Schutte (Ewa Beach, Hawaii/James Campbell) recorded her first career double-double as the Valiants started the day with a 3-1 win over the host Rams.
 
Schutte set new season-highs with 10 kills and 16 digs in the win, while Evers also posted a double-double with 21 assists and 10 digs in just two sets of work. Fellow freshman Ari Ramos (Commerce, Calif./El Rancho) had 18 assists and four digs, while Lopez dug out 28 balls and chipped in seven assists and four aces.
 
The opening set featured 10 ties and three lead changes, as both teams battled until the final point. The Valiants built up their biggest lead at 17-12 following a Mackey kill and ace, but Farmingdale fought back to tie the score at 18. There were three more ties in the frame before Manhattanville scored four of the final five points, helped by a kill and ace from Schutte as well as kills from Mackey and senior Meagan Dattoma (Port Jefferson Station, N.Y./Comsewogue).
 
Manhattanville won the first seven points of the second set, as the Valiants were never in serious trouble in taking a two-set lead, but Farmingdale came back with a strong start of its own on the way to a third-set win.
 
The Valiants jumped out to a 21-11 lead in the fourth set and looked on their way to an easy win, but Farmingdale scored nine of the next 11 points and then killed off four match points to knot the set at 24-all. But a pair of seniors finally ended the match for the visitors, as kills by Mackey and Dattoma finished off the Rams.
 
Manhattanville 3, Ramapo 1 (15-25, 25-21, 25-17, 25-19)
Mackey had 12 kills and Reid added 11 kills on .417 hitting in the second match of the day, as the Valiants defeated Ramapo for the first time since 1997 with a huge four-set victory.
 
In addition to Mackey and Reid leading the offense, Evers had another big double-double with 25 assists and 19 digs, while Lopez had another superlative defensive effort with 36 digs to go with nine assists and three kills.
 
After Ramapo took the first set with relative ease, Manhattanville pulled off a late comeback to level the match at one. With Ramapo serving up 20-18, a service error followed by an Evers kill knotted the score at 20. The Roadrunners earned the next point, but it was their last of the set as Schutte got the serve back with a kill and, after a Ramapo error, Manhattanville put down three straight kills to finish off the frame.
 
The Valiants led for almost the entirely of the third set, allowing Ramapo only a pair of one-point leads. With the match tied at 15, the Valiants stormed away with a 10-2 run that was started by a kill and two aces from Mackey and finished off with three straight Ramapo hitting errors.
 
Manhattanville again finished strong in the fourth stanza, outscoring Ramapo 15-6 down the stretch to complete the victory. Five straight points on the serve of Schutte helped turn a 13-11 deficit into a 16-13 lead, and the Valiants polished off the Roadrunners by scoring six straight points with the set tied at 19, with Reid finishing it off with her fifth kill of the frame.
 
Manhattanville will take its five-match winning streak into conference play, as the Valiants begin their MAC Freedom schedule on Wednesday with a 7 p.m. matchup at King's (Pa.) College.