FREDERICKSBURG, Va. – The incredible 2022 Manhattanville College women's volleyball season concluded on Thursday afternoon as the Valiants were defeated by the Stevens Institute of Technology 3-0 in the First Round of the NCAA Division III Women's Volleyball Tournament. The book officially closes on the campaign with a 24-7 overall record following the 19-25, 23-25, 16-25 defeat.

Ayla Ruiz (Honolulu, Hawaii/St. Andrew's Schools) led the offensive effort with 11 kills, ending the year with 161 putaways. The Valiants also received nine kills from Alejandra Figueroa (Guaynabo, Puerto Rico/Colegio Rosa-Bell) and five from Hannah Pena (Goshen, N.Y./Goshen).

Vianca Vital (Carolina, Puerto Rico/Perpetuo Socorro) earned 29 assists in her season-finale, bringing her total on the year to 920. The total ranks second in the Manhattanville single-season record book, just 14 shy of Vital's program record of 934 from 2019. Through three seasons on the court, the senior earned 2,531 assists, firmly the second-most in program history.

Grace Ballagas' (Carolina, Puerto Rico/Robinson School) 16 digs was the top defensive performance for Manhattanville. The sophomore dug 451 balls over the course of the season, now the sixth-highest single-season total. Vital added 12 digs while Caylee Premoli (White Plains, N.Y./School of the Holy Child) contributed nine.

In the meeting of the Skyline and MAC Freedom champions, Stevens would strike first with the opening three points of the first set. The Valiants pulled within one on three separate occasions, but with the Ducks' lead cut down to 7-6, a five-point Stevens run reestablished distance at 12-6. Manhattanville responded with a 5-1 run to pull back within two before Stevens scored six straight, going up 19-11. The Valiants had one last run in them, scoring eight of the following 11 points to get back to withint striking distance, but the Ducks held off the comeback effort with three straight points to take the set 25-19.

The Valiants were quick to put the opening set behind them, scoring five of the first six points. Manhattanville kept firing on all cylinders through the early going, quickly building up to a 15-5 lead. Despite facing the large deficit, perhaps the Ducks' experience in the postseason tournament allowed them to begin battling back with five straight points. The Valiants would be held to just one point while controlling the serve for the remainder of the set as Stevens continued to claw back. A four point run knocked Manhattanville's lead down to one, and while a Ruiz kill put the Valiants back up by two, the Ducks scored three straight to take their first lead of the frame. The score would be tied four times before the set would be claimed. Sofia Morales (Tolland, Conn./Tolland) put Manhattanville back up 22-21 before the Ducks scored three straight to reach set point. Morales had another kill to keep the Valiants alive, but Cleo Shannon notched a kill in the following volley to give the Ducks the 25-23 decision.

The third set would be tied four times to get things started, leading to a 6-6 stalemate. Elle Maggio logged a kill for Stevens, starting a nine point run that featured four aces from Gabbi Roberts. The run gave the Ducks a 15-6 lead that the Valiants were unable to fight their way back from. The two squads split the following 20 points, leading to a 25-16 Stevens win that secured the Ducks the opening round win.

As the season concludes, Head Coach Tyler Blank had no reservations about the start of his Valiant tenure. "I told the girls in the locker room that you can't really draw up a better first year for myself," Blank said. "I'm so happy to be in this position and have the opportunity to do so. We're definitely a school and a team that wants to be able to compete on a national stage going forward."

Blank was joined by Pena and Vital in the postmatch press conference. The senior duo were both part of the 2019 team that made the program's NCAA Tournament debut in their freshmen seasons.
 
"Every year we want to get better, we're not the same we are now as seniors as we were as freshmen," said Pena. "We grew every single year, we took what happened in our loss last year than made us hungrier to get back to the championship and the NCAA Tournament this year. I think we never took anything for granted, which is what brought us back to this position today. The fact that we can have this full circle moment is such an incredible feeling, so it's a great way to go out."

"For me its two completely different journeys," added Vital. "My four years have been incredible, but these two championship years, I can't compare them to anything else. We showed up and showed the world who Manhattanville is once again."

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