PURCHASE, N.Y. – Kicking off the start of a new campaign, the Manhattanville College women's volleyball team earned a 3-0 sweep of Eastern Connecticut State University on Thursday evening. The victory gets the season off on the right foot for the Valiants, who improve to 1-0 with the win.

Picking right up where they left off a year ago, the trio of Ayla Ruiz (Honolulu, Hawaii/St. Andrew's Schools), Vianca Vital (Carolina, Puerto Rico/Perpetuo Socorro) and Grace Ballagas (Carolina, Puerto Rico/Robinson School) led the way in their respective categories. The sophomore Ruiz recorded a team-leading 17 kills in her 2022 debut, coming off a season where she led the team with 3.67 kills per set as a rookie in 2021. Vital's senior year got off to a fantastic start with a 31 assist, 10 dig double-double, while also leading the team with a pair of aces. Ballagas, meanwhile, led the team with 13 total digs.

Amongst the team's other top performers, Alejandra Figueroa (Guaynabo, Puerto Rico/Colegio Rosa-Bell) posted 10 kills, while Felicity Hoffert (Smithtown, N.Y./Smithtown East) notched eight digs. Hoffert also finished second on the night in blocks with three, trailing only Sofia Morales (Tolland, Conn./Tolland) who had a team-best four.

The Valiants took the opening set by a final of 25-18. After a back-and-forth start to the set, the home team went on an 8-2 run to take an 11-5 advantage. Manhattanville would methodically build up the lead before closing out the frame with a 6-2 run to take the opening point.

Set two was a tighter affair, with the Warriors scoring the first four points and eventually claiming a 6-1 lead. Despite the early deficit, the Valiants were able to fight back to eventually even the set at 12-12 before an ace by Vital gave the team its first lead of the set. After playing to a 15-15 tie, the Valiants rattled off three straight points to take the lead for good, playing to a 25-20 win.

Desperate to fight off the sweep, Eastern Connecticut put together their best effort of the night in the third set. The Warriors held five separate four point leads in the set, but the Valiants refused to go away. Trailing 19-16, the Valiants pulled within one courtesy of a pair of kills by Ruiz. While ECSU got the sere back following a service error out of a time out, the Valiants immediately responded with a 4-1 run to go ahead 22-21. While the Warriors would pull even at 22-22, Manhattanville scored three of the final four points and secured the win with a Figueroa kill to begin the year 1-0 and earn head coach Tyler Blank the win in his coaching debut.

Up Next
The Valiants begin a string of six straight matches on the road on Sunday with a trimatch hosted by Emerson College. Manhattanville will take on Simmons ahead of clashing with the hosting Lions.
 

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