MADISON, N.J. – An early start to the morning did not slow the roll of the Manhattanville College women's volleyball team on Saturday, as the Valiants earned a 3-0 sweep at Drew University. With the win (25-17, 25-17, 25-21), Manhattanville improves to 4-1 on the year.
Vianca Vital (Carolina, Puerto Rico/Perpetuo Socorro) continued her hot start to the season with her fifth double-double in as many contests. The reigning Skyline Player of the Week led the team with 33 assists while chipping in 11 digs on the defensive side of the ball. Speaking of defensive play,
Grace Ballagas (Carolina, Puerto Rico/Robinson School) led the Valiants in digs with 17, while
Ayla Ruiz (Honolulu, Hawaii/St. Andrew's Schools) matched Vital's total of 11.
Offensively,
Alejandra Figueroa (Guaynabo, Puerto Rico/Colegio Rosa-Bell) led the squad with 11 kills. Ruiz added 10 to collect her first double-double of the year, while
Felicity Hoffert (Smithtown, N.Y./Smithtown East) rounded out the top performers with eight putaways.
Similar to their performance from earlier in the week in a win over William Paterson, the Valiants jumped out to an early lead to begin the match with a 7-1 advantage. The Rangers were able to fight back and cut Manhattanville's lead down to two on multiple occasions, but after the Valiants saw their lead down to 12-10, the road team rattled off three straight points to regain some distance. A 5-2 run closed out the set for the Valiants.
Set two began with a more tightly-contested affair, with the two teams battling to nine separate tied scores. Even at 13-13, the Valiants were able to piece together their most sustained attack of the set, going on a 10-2 run to blow the frame wide open and advance to the brink of the sweep with a 2-0 set advantage.
With neither team able to put together a long run in the third set, the Valiants and Rangers fought to 12 different ties in the frame. Trailing 13-12, the Valiants evened the score and regained the serve following a Drew attack error. With Ballagas on the serve, Manhattanville scored three straight to go ahead for good as part of a 7-1 run. Drew was able to close the gap to within two, but the Valiants were able to earn the deciding point off a Ruiz kill to earn their fourth sweep of the season.
Up Next
The Valiants conclude their three match trip through New Jersey on Thursday when the team heads to Newark to take on Rutgers-Newark. First serve is scheduled for 7 p.m.
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