PURCHASE, N.Y. – In a night that celebrated the program's past and present, the Manhattanville College women's volleyball team swept the College of Mount Saint Vincent on Thursday night, 3-0. The win (25-7, 25-15, 25-8) makes the Valiants 14-4 on the year and 6-1 in Skyline Conference play.
Prior to the start of the match, the 2019 Skyline Conference champion women's volleyball team was honored with their long-awaited banner raising ceremony. The six Valiants from the championship squad still with the team—
Alejandra Figueroa (Guaynabo, Puerto Rico/Colegio Rosa-Bell),
Vianca Vital (Carolina, Puerto Rico/Perpetuo Socorro),
Hannah Pena (Goshen, N.Y./Goshen),
Katelyn Kamei (Honolulu, Hawaii/St. Andrew's Schools - The Priory),
Caylee Premoli (White Plains, N.Y./School of the Holy Child) and
Felicity Hoffert (Smithtown, N.Y./Smithtown East)—were joined by alumni Austen Brauer, Marissa Shamansky and
Lia Eaglin (Houston, Texas/YES Prep Southwest) to hoist their championship banner onto the wall of Kennedy Gymnasium.
With the celebration complete, the Valiants carried the good vibes into the match. Pena would lead the team on the night with eight kills, while
Sofia Morales (Tolland, Conn./Tolland) finished with seven. Figueroa and
Zoe Zols (Queens, N.Y./St. Francis Prep) would end with six putaways each.
Vital accounted for all 27 of the team's assists on the night, while Figueroa took the lead defensively with 10 digs.
Grace Ballagas (Carolina, Puerto Rico/Robinson School) dug nine balls, while the reigning Skyline Rookie of the Week
Loren Hernandez (Toa Baja, Puerto Rico/American Military Academy) had seven digs on her night.
The Valiants had a season-high .367 hitting percentage in the win. The six attack errors by Manhattanville also represented a season-low.
Manhattanville began the night with the first six points of the contest, quickly building out to a 9-1 advantage. The Dolphins scored just once in the first set while in control of the serve as it was all Valiants in the early going. A 12- 2 run closed out the set for the Valiants, capped off by back-to-back aces off the serve of Vital to give the home team the first set, 25-7.
After falling behind early, a 7-1 Valiant run put Manhattanville up 9-4 in the second set. The lead held the rest of the way, with the Valiants using a number of small runs to continue climbing towards the 25 point mark. Vital would also close out this one, recording a kill in the final volley to give the Valiants a 2-0 advantage with a 25-15 win.
The third set opened with back-and-forth play until Manhattanville rattled off four straight points to go up 8-3. The Dolphins would not pull any closer than a four point deficit the rest of the night, as a 9-1 run would put the Valiants ahead 19-6 shortly after. Pena closed out the night with her eighth kill to earn match point.
Up Next
Manhattanville returns to play on Saturday at the Stockton Tri-Match, taking on host Stockton University at 1 p.m. before a 3 p.m. clash with Hunter College.
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