NEW YORK, N.Y. – Making their return to the court for regular season action for the first time in more than 650 days, the Manhattanville College volleyball team dropped their season opening matchup in three sets (11-25, 16-25, 23-25) at New York University on Tuesday night.

Ayla Ruiz (Honolulu, HI/St Andrews Schools) was the Valiants' leader on both sides of the ball in her collegiate debut, as the freshman posted a team-high 10 kills and led the squad with 12 digs. Vianca Vital (Carolina, Puerto Rico/Perpetuo Socorro) helped set up most of the Manhattanville attacks on the night, recording 23 of the team's 28 assists. The junior also had 10 digs to go along with her solid night.

While the Violets were able to take the opening two sets on the night, the Valiants took NYU to the limit in the third set. After battling back and forth to nine different tied scores, Manhattanville was able to lay claim to a 23-22 advantage following a Felicity Hoffert (Smithtown, N.Y./Smithtown East) kill. However, NYU was able to rebound after a timeout call to rattle off three straight points to close out the contest.

Up Next
The Valiants return to action on Friday as part of a neutral-site doubleheader. Manhattanville will take on Lycoming College at 4 P.M. ahead of a 6 P.M. showdown with La Roche University.

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