SCRANTON, Pa. – The Manhattanville College women's volleyball team competed in their final tri-match of the season on Saturday afternoon at the University of Scranton. The Valiants split the two decisions, falling 3-1 to the host Royals (13-25, 16-25, 25-21, 25-27) before sweeping Shenandoah, 3-0 (25-16, 25-14, 26-24). Manhattanville enters the final week of the regular season sporting an 18-6 record following the Saturday action.

Match One Recap: Manhattanville 1, Scranton 3
The Valiants fell in the opener of Saturday's action as the Royals took the opening two sets. Manhattanville bounced back to take the third, but Scranton outlasted the Valiants in the marathon fourth set to win the match.

Ayla Ruiz (Honolulu, Hawaii/St. Andrew's Schools) was the team's leading attacker in the opening tilt with 13 kills. Alejandra Figueroa (Guaynabo, Puerto Rico/Colegio Rosa-Bell) added 10 putaways as Hannah Pena (Goshen, N.Y./Goshen) and Loren Hernandez (Toa Baja, Puerto Rico/American Military Academy) finished with six apiece. The defensive effort against the Royals was led by Grace Ballagas (Carolina, Puerto Rico/Robinson School) and Vianca Vital (Carolina, Puerto Rico/Perpetuo Socorro) with 19 and 18 digs, respectively. Ruiz and Hernandez would also add eight digs. Vital would also take point as the primary setter with 29 assists.

The Valiants had a slow start in the first set. While Vital opened up the match with a service ace, the Royals responded with a five-point run to take a lead they would protect the rest of the way. Manhattanville was able to get back within three on a few occasions, but Scranton's five point run in the middle of the set put the hosts ahead 18-9, too much for the Valiants to fight back from as they dropped the opener 15-13.

Scranton would take set two as well on the backs of several small runs. Piecing together strings of three and four points, the Royals built up a sizeable lead at 19-9. Manhattanville began mounting a comemack effort with six unanswered points, but Scranton responded with five straight of their own to go up 24-15 before soon after winning the frame 25-16.

Despite facing the 2-0 hole, the Valiants played their best volleyball of the day to take set three, using a .233 attack percentage in the 25-21 win. Tied 3-3, Pena put the Valiants ahead and won back the serve with a kill, beginning a 6-0 run for the Valiants. Four of the points came via service aces by Hernandez. The 9-3 lead forced Scranton to play catch up, eventually tying the score at 13-13. The Valiants would go back ahead 17-15 with a three point run that proved to be the difference maker. Scranton pulled within a single point three separate times, but the Valiants held off the effort to avoid the sweep.

It was back-and-forth to open up the fourth set as both teams held early leads. Manhattanville would stake claim to a 13-9 lead after a five point run. Scranton would pull even at 14-14 before the teams traded leads and battled to another tie at 16-16. Scranton jumped ahead with two straight points and would hold the lead towards the tailend of the set. With the Royals up 23-20, Manhattanville went on a 5-1 run to hold Scranton at 24 points and go ahead, 25-24. Despite the great effort, Scranton would score the following three points to take the set 27-25 and win the match three sets to one.

Match Two Recap: Manhattanville 3, Shenandoah 0
Hernandez would lead the way offensively against the Hornets, piecing together her first double-digit kill effort in five matches with 12 putaways. The rookie was joined by Felicity Hoffert (Smithtown, N.Y./Smithtown East) and Sofia Morales (Tolland, Conn./Tolland) as leading attackers with 10 and eight kills, respectively.

Ballagas repeated as the defensive leader with the libero totaling 24 digs, while it was Vital once again piloting the attack changes with 39 of the team's 42 assists. The Valiants would also benefit from 12 aces in match two, led by five from Caylee Premoli (White Plains, N.Y./School of the Holy Child).

The Valiants were quick to erase an early Shenandoah lead, scoring six straight points to go up 8-4. The Hornets evened the score up at 9-9 before a three point Valiant run put Manhattanville ahead for good. The lead never fell below two for the remainder of the set as the Valiants were able to build towards set point, winning the frame with a Hernandez ace, 25-16.

Tied 5-5 to open up set two, the Valiants scored four answered to take control of the frame. The Hornets would be unable to get any closer than within three points as once again the Vals used multiple short runs to build up their lead. Ahead 19-14, Manhattanville used their biggest run of the set with six unanswered points served by Premoli to go up two sets to none.

Much like how the Valiants played in the opener, the Hornets refused to go away on the brink of being swept. Shenandoah built out an early 7-4 lead which would continue to climb all the way up to 19-8. Facing one of their biggest deficits in any match this season, the Valiants chipped away at the lead before regaining the serve down 22-14. Manhattanville scored seven straight to jump right back into the game, now down 22-21. The Hornets scored two of the next three points to go on the verge of victory, 24-22, but the Valiants roared back with four straight points to complete the impressive comeback and pull off the sweep.

Up Next
The Valiants begin the final week of the regular season on the road Tuesday night, taking on Sarah Lawrence at 7 p.m.

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