PURCHASE, N.Y. – The Manhattanville College women's volleyball team started a four-match week in dominating fashion, earning a 3-0 home court sweep of Mount Saint Mary on Monday night. The win (25-12, 25-21, 25-7) makes the Valiants 4-0 in Skyline Conference play, while the team improves to 11-2 overall on the season.
  
It was a well-rounded effort on the defensive end for Manhattanville, as the Valiants had four players reach a double-digit dig total. As has been the case for most of the year, Grace Ballagas (Carolina, Puerto Rico/Robinson School) led the way with 15 digs. Vianca Vital (Carolina, Puerto Rico/Perpetuo Socorro) finished with 14 digs, while Alejandra Figueroa (Guaynabo, Puerto Rico/Colegio Rosa-Bell) and Loren Hernandez (Toa Baja, Puerto Rico/American Military Academy) ended the night with 11 and 10 digs, respectively.
 
Figueroa earned a double-double, her fourth of the year, with a team-leading 11 kills. Felicity Hoffert (Smithtown, N.Y./Smithtown East) added 10 putaways, while Hannah Pena (Goshen, N.Y./Goshen) rounded out the top efforts with nine kills. Vital, meanwhile, continued to set up a majority of the team's offensive chances with 37 of the team's 43 assists on the night.
 
The Valiants totaled 11 service aces with five different players notching one in the contest. Vital and Caylee Premoli (White Plains, N.Y./School of the Holy Child) led the way with three apiece.
 
Manhattanville got off to a quick start in the opening set with five of the first six points of the night, building up to a 10-4 lead. Mount Saint Mary would be held to just two points while in control of the serve in the opening frame as the Valiants used a series of short runs to continue building separation. Manhattanville's longest run of the set would be a 5-0 stretch, but with the home town preventing Mount Saint Mary from keeping the serve on their side of the court, the Valiants were able to earn the 25-12 win in the opener.
 
The Valiants built up another early lead for the second set, jumping ahead 15-6. Determined to make a match of it, the Knights began to claw their way back into things with seven of the next eight points to cut the lead down to three at 16-13. Manhattanville was able to regain some breathing room for the moment with three unanswered points, but Mount Saint Mary hung around and used a 6-2 run to pull within two, 22-20. A timely Pena kill regained the Valiants the serve where Figueroa notched a putaway to put Manhattanville on the brink of victory. While the Knights would have one more point in them, Figueroa closed out the set with another kill to notch the win 25-21.
 
Perhaps saving their best plays of the night for last, the Valiants made quick work in the final frame with a 25-7 victory. Mount Saint Mary was limited to just six serves total in the set and earned just one point with the serve on their side of the court. The result was the Valiants scoring four straight points to open up the set en route to a 13-4 lead. A 7-0 run shortly after, Manhattanville's longest of the night, put the home squad up by 15 with a 20-5 lead. Figueroa would go on to close out the night with her 11^th kill of the night to get the week started right for the Valiants.
 

RAPID REACTION: Hear from Vianca and Alejandra as the Valiants improve to 4-0 in Skyline play! #WeAreValiant pic.twitter.com/GcETRu6V4T

— Manhattanville College Valiants (@GoValiants) October 4, 2022

 
Up Next
The Valiants are on the road on Wednesday night, traveling to Farmingdale State for a 7 p.m. matchup with the Rams.
 

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