RIVERDALE, N.Y. – The Manhattanville College women's volleyball team remained perfect in Skyline Conference action on Wednesday night following a three-set victory over the College of Mount Saint Vincent. The Valiants improve to 9-8 overall on the year following the win (25-9. 25-11, 25-15), still having not dropped a single set in conference play.
Ayla Ruiz (Honolulu, Hawaii/St. Andrew's Schools) had herself a game, seeing action all over the court. The junior led the attack with 10 kills while earning four blocks, five digs and recording a pair of service aces. The trio of
Loren Hernandez (Toa Baja, Puerto Rico/American Military Academy),
Sofia Morales (Tolland, Conn./Tolland) and
Meghan Wildes (Massapequa, N.Y./Massapequa) each finished with eight kills.
Fresh off becoming the newest member of the program's 1,000 digs club,
Grace Ballagas (Carolina, Puerto Rico/Robinson School) led the defensive effort with 16 digs.
Vianca Vital (Carolina, Puerto Rico/Perpetuo Socorro) also reached double-figures defensively with 11 digs, posting a double-double with her 27 assists. The graduate setter becomes just the second Valiant ever to reach 3,000 assists following the contest, now standing at 3,010 for her career and just 85 shy of setting a new program record. Vital also added three aces, leading the team on the night alongside
Kayla Jennings (Yorktown Heights, N.Y./Lakeland).
Manhattanvile wasted little time getting things started with the first five points to open up the night. Vital notched a pair of aces while
Emily Brown (Kaneohe, Hawaii/Damien Memorial) and Morales each recorded a kill in the run. After the Dolphins got on the board following a block, it was right back to the Valiants who scored seven straight to erupt to a 12-1 lead. Mount Saint Vincent had no response to the hole they found themselves in, only able to get as close as eight. Up 14-6, the Valiants used another six-point run to gain some more separation. From there, it was smooth sailing to the end with Manhattanville taking the set 25-9.
After five separate tied scores to open up the second set, the Valiants once again took control following an extended run. A kill from Ruiz kickstarted nine straight points for Manhattanville, putting the Vals up 13-5. The lead remained in single digits until 16-10 when Manhattanville used a six-point run to climb out to a 22-10 advantage. After an attack error disrupted the run temporarily, but the Valiants notched the final three points to take a two set advantage, 25-11.
The Dolphins would lead for the early going in the third set, going ahead 7-6. The Valiants notched the next three points to go in front, and while the Dolphins were able to pull back within one off a Melanieann Broderick kill, Manhattanville responded with five straight points to go up 14-8 and would never looks back. The lead would climb up to eight before the Dolphins closed the gap slightly, trailing 21-15. Ruiz logged a kill to get control of the serve back for the Valiants, and after a pair of Mount Saint Vincent attack errors, Wildes closed out the night with her eighth putaway of the evening to complete the sweep with a 25-15 third set win.
Up Next
The Valiants take a brief pause from conference action this weekend when the team competes in the Union College Tri-Match on Saturday beginning at 11 a.m.
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