PURCHASE, N.Y. – The postseason has arrived at Kennedy Gymnaisum, with the Manhattanville College women's volleyball team looking to make their third-straight appearance in the Conference Championship match. To get there, the third-seeded Valiants will first have to get through their First Round matchup against No. 6 Mount Saint Mary on Tuesday night.
    How We Got Here
The Valiants concluded a 21-6 regular season on Saturday with a 3-0 sweep of John Jay on Senior Day. The victory capped off a perfect 3-0 week to end the schedule and sends Manhattanville into the postseason riding a four match winning streak.

Despite the impressive overall record and going 10-1 in Skyline Conference play, the Valiants found themselves in a three-way tie atop the standings with USMMA and Farmingdale who had identical conference records. As a result of the conference's tiebreaking procedures, Manhattanville ended up with the No. 3 seed and hosting a first round matchup.

Manhattanville has been led all season long by the trio of Grace Ballagas (Carolina, Puerto Rico/Robinson School), Vianca Vital (Carolina, Puerto Rico/Perpetuo Socorro) and Alejandra Figueroa (Guaynabo, Puerto Rico/Colegio Rosa-Bell). The three lead the Valiants in digs, assists and kills, respectively. Ballagas enters the postseason with 394 digs, ranking fourth in the Skyline with 4.58 digs per set. Vital has been the team's primary setter with 801 assists, currently the fourth-most in a Valiant season and leading the Skyline with 9.77 per set. Figueroa, meanwhile, has been the main beneficiary of Vital's sets with 232 kills, ranking third in the conference with 3.22 putaways per set.

The Valiants also feature two more attacking weapons as part of their deep roster in Loren Hernandez (Toa Baja, Puerto Rico/American Military Academy) and Ayla Ruiz (Honolulu, Hawaii/St. Andrew's Schools). Hernandez had won five consecutive Skyline Rookie of the Week honors earlier in the season and ranks second on the team in kills with 190. Ruiz, meanwhile, has bounced back nicely from an injury that sidelined her for most of the season. Despite playing in just 15 matches, the sophomore has pieced together 113 kills, trailing only Figueroa in kills per set. With Figueroa, Ruiz and Hernandez joined by Felicity Hoffert (Smithtown, N.Y./Smithtown East) and Hannah Pena (Goshen, N.Y./Goshen) who both eclipsed 100 kills on the year, the Valiants feature the top killing team in the conference with 1115 on the season.

The Knights claimed the sixth seed after going 6-5 in conference play and 11-14 overall. Mount Saint Mary was last in action on Thursday, dropping a 3-0 decision to the conference's top seed of Merchant Marine.

While Manhattanville boasts several attack threats, Mount Saint Mary features the conference's best in Grace Riddle. The senior has killed 317 balls to the tune of 3.87 per set, both leading marks in the Skyline. It has been a great season for the reigning Skyline Player of the Year, but Riddle was relatively shut down in the regular season matchup against the Valiants, recording a season-low five kills.

Last Time Out
The Knights were last at Kennedy Gym on Oct. 3, falling in three sets to the Valiants. Manhattanville received double-figure kill nights by Figueroa and Hoffert, while Vital collected a double-double with 37 assists and 14 digs. Ballagas was the team's top defender with 15 digs.

Riddle was Mount Saint Mary's offensive leader in the loss, but as mentioned earlier, was limited to just five kills. Fran Cammarata earned nine assists for the Knights, while Jenna Cullinan had a team-high 11 digs.

Team Leaders
Manhattanville

• Kills Per Set: Figueroa (3.22), Ruiz (3.14), Hernandez (2.50)
• Assists Per Set: Vital (9.77), Ballagas (1.09), Premoli (0.90)
• Digs Per Set: Ballagas (4.58), Vital (3.34), Figueroa (2.64)
• Service Aces: Vital (49), Figueroa (43), Premoli (39)
• Blocks: Morales (29), Hoffert (25), Wildes (22)

Mount Saint Mary

• Kills Per Set: Riddle (3.87), Lema (1.57), Romano (1.16)
• Assists Per Set: Cammarata (6.79), Orellana (0.33), Riddle (0.26)
• Digs Per Set: Riddle (2.89), Gross (2.39), Cullinan (2.26)
• Service Aces: Riddle (46), Lema (40), Cammarata (37)
• Blocks: Romano (25), Lavelle (22), Riddle (17)

History

• All-Time Record vs Mount Saint Mary: 17-16
• Streak: Manhattanville W5
• Series Record at Manhattanville: 7-3
• Last Five Meetings
  • 10/3/22: Mount Saint Mary 0, Manhattanville 3 (25-12, 25-21, 25-7)
  • 10/4/21: Manhattanville 3, Mount Saint Mary 1 (23-25, 25-13, 25-22, 25-16)
  • 10/5/19: Manhattanville 3, Mount Saint Mary 0 (25-23, 26-24, 25-9)
  • 10/10/15: Manhattanville 3, Mount Saint Mary 1 (@ Montclair) (19-25, 25-19, 26-24, 25-16)
  • 9/27/14: Mount Saint Mary 1, Manhattanville 3 (25-18, 12-25, 25-23, 25-21)