KINGS POINT, N.Y. – For the second time in program history, the Manhattanville College women's volleyball team will be dancing into the NCAA Tournament after claiming the Skyline Conference Championship on Saturday afternoon. The third-seeded Valiants knocked off top-seeded Merchant Marine with a 3-0 sweep (25-15, 25-18, 25-19), winning their second Skyline Conference Championship since 2019.

The win on Saturday marks a full circle on the collegiate careers of the Valiants' senior class, as all five of Manhattanville's seniors—Felicity Hoffert (Smithtown, N.Y./Smithtown East), Katelyn Kamei (Honolulu, Hawaii/St. Andrew's Schools - The Priory), Hannah Pena (Goshen, N.Y./Goshen), Caylee Premoli (White Plains, N.Y./School of the Holy Child) and Vianca Vital (Carolina, Puerto Rico/Perpetuo Socorro)—were all rookies during the 2019 championship run. Now, in their final seasons with Manhattanville, they have raised the conference title once again.

It would be Ayla Ruiz (Honolulu, Hawaii/St. Andrew's Schools) leading the offensive output, as the sophomore's dominant return from injury was highlighted by her performance in the championship match. Ruiz had a season-high 20 kills across the three sets while adding 10 digs on the defensive end. Alejandra Figueroa (Guaynabo, Puerto Rico/Colegio Rosa-Bell), who was also part of the 2019 championship team as a sophomore, finished second on the day with 10 putaways. Pena would end the match third on the team with five kills.

As has been her forte her entire career, Vital set up a majority of the Valiant attacks with 36 of the team's 40 assists. Grace Ballagas (Carolina, Puerto Rico/Robinson School) added three, while Hoffert accounted for the last one. Figueroa and Vital would also lead the defensive effort with 12 digs each, while Ballagas matched Ruiz' total of 10.

Vital, Ballagas and Premoli would each earn a pair of service aces, while the Valiants were successful in returning every Merchant Marine serve in the game. At the net, Vital, Pena and Sofia Morales (Tolland, Conn./Tolland) racked up three blocks each.

The Mariners seemed to feed off the home court advantage at the start of the match, running off to an early 5-0 lead. The Valiants would play catchup up until they trailed 10-7 when the first sustained Manhattanville run of the day of five straight points put the visitors up for the first time in the match. The Valiant run prompted a USMMA timeout, but Manhattanville was able to maintain the lead the rest of the set. Leading 16-14, the Valiants scored five straight before a 4-0 run soon after gave Manhattanville the first set, 25-15.

The momentum of the first set win carried over into the second as Manhattanville scored seven straight points to begin the frame. The deficit put USMMA in a hole the rest of the way, as the Mariners showed signs of a comeback before Manhattanville would pull away again. The lead climbed to as high as eight, ultimately leading to a 14-7 Valiant lead. USMMA would earn back the serve on a Brittany Breland kill, beginning a 5-0 run that cut the lead down to two. A timeout allowed Manhattanville to collect themselves, responding with the next four points to go back up 18-12. From there, neither team would string together more than two straight points for the rest of the set, but the breathing room was enough for Manhattanville to earn the 25-18 win and pull one set away from a title.

With their backs against the walls, USMMA earned a pair of three point leads to open up the third, up 6-3. The Valiants would tie the score up at 8-8 before trading points with the Mariners to a 9-9 stalemate. A pair of Figueroa kills gave Manhattanville their largest lead of the frame at that point, but once again Merchant Marine refused to let the Valiants get much going as they tied the set back up, 12-12. It was here that Ruiz provided perhaps the three biggest kills of her young collegiate career, earning three straight points for the Valiants to put her team back on top. The 3-0 run would match the longest of the set as the remainder of the match played out with the two teams limiting the other to no more than two straight points. The Valiants were able to slowly build up a five point advantage up to 23-18. The Mariners won back the serve on an attack error, but the 20^th kill from Ruiz sent the ball back to the Valiants before Pena punched the team's ticket to the NCAA Tournament with the match-sealing kill, 25-19.

With the win, the Valiants have secured an automatic bid in the 2022 NCAA DIII Women's Volleyball Championship Tournament. Manhattanville will find out their seed and opponent for the tournament as part of the selection show, airing on NCAA.com on Monday, Nov. 7 at 1 p.m.

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