BOSTON, Mass. – The Manhattanville College women's volleyball team opened up the 2023 season on Saturday with a trimatch split at Emerson College. After winning a five-set affair over Simmons in a neutral site tilt to begin the day, the Valiants fell in three sets to the host Lions to open up the season with a 1-1 record.

Match One Recap: Manhattanville 3, Simmons 2 (17-25, 25-12, 20-25, 25-22, 16-14)
Beginning the season with a marathon effort, it took five sets for the Valiants to upend the Sharks of Simmons, winning the final two frames to win the match.

Playing in all five sets, the sophomore tandem of Loren Hernandez (Toa Baja, Puerto Rico/American Military Academy) and Emily Brown (Kaneohe, Hawaii/Damien Memorial) led the attack effort with a combined 26 kills. Coming off her Skyline Conference Rookie of the Year campaign, it was a strong start to the year for Hernandez who logged a team-high 16 kills and 22 digs for a double-double alongside three service aces. Brown, meanwhile, put away a career-high 10 balls on the attack effort.

Elsewhere on the court, Vianca Vital (Carolina, Puerto Rico/Perpetuo Socorro) and Grace Ballagas (Carolina, Puerto Rico/Robinson School) opened up the season with their typical efforts. Vital earned 39 assists as the leading setter, while libero Ballagas dug 18 balls, earned seven assists and had a team-high four aces.

Making her collegiate debut, rookie Kayla Jennings (Yorktown Heights, N.Y./Lakeland) had a 20-dig effort, trailing only Hernandez in the category in the match. She added three aces and a trio of kills of her own. Katelyn Kamei (Honolulu, Hawaii/St. Andrew's Schools - The Priory) added 12 digs as the Valiants were all over the floor making plays as part of a 95 dig effort by the squad.

After a slow start by Manhattanville that saw the team sport a .083 attack percentage in the 17-25 loss in the opening frame, the reigning Skyline Conference champs were able to get on the board with a 25-12 win in the second set. After trading opening points, Meghan Wildes (Massapequa, N.Y./Massapequa) logged a kill to regain control of the serve. It was the first of five straight points with Ballagas handling serving duties that put the Valiants up 6-1. While Simmons would pull within two points twice, another 5-0 run would put Manhattanville ahead 14-7 en route to the 25-12 win.

After hitting .333 in the second set, the Valiants went cold again with a .043 attacking percentage in the third set. Despite the hitting woes and trailing for most of the frame, a 7-0 run piloted by Jennings at the service line put Manhattanville up 13-10. The Valiants continued to build up their advantage up to an 18-13 lead before a service error put the Sharks back in control of the serve. Simmons would rattled off nine unanswered points to reclaim the lead and swing momentum back onto the other side of the court. Manhattanville clawed back to get within two points, but the Sharks scored three final points to take the frame 25-20 and head into the fourth set on the brink of victory.

Channeling their namesake, Manhattanville put together a valiant effort in the fourth set with a match-high 13 kills to force a deciding fifth set. In a frame that saw nine separate tied scores, the Valiants had their backs against the wall late. Simmons erased Manhattanville's three point lead to tie the match up at 15-15. After trading points to a 19-19 stalemate, the Sharks strung together three straight points to go up 21-19. A timely time out allowed Manhattanville to regroup and end the short run with a kill by Jennings. While the Sharks earned another point following an attack error, the Valiants rattled off five straight points to complete the comeback, taking the set 25-22 and heading into the breaker set.

Simmons came out hot, utilizing a pair of service aces by Chelsea Simmons to jump ahead 4-1. The Sharks continued to build up their lead to a 9-5 advantage before Samantha Andriola (Garden City South, N.Y./Sacred Heart Academy) put away a ball to get the Valiants back in control of the serve. A four point run by Manhattanville tied the set up at 9-9, the first of four tied scores to close out the contest. The Valiants would get up by two but Simmons had a response to each run Manhattanville attempted to piece together, pulling even at 14-14. With the Sharks in control of the serve, Brown recorded her tenth and biggest kill of the match to put the Valiants on match point with the ball in their hands. Hernandez would close out the win with a kill by way of Ballagas to win the set 16-14 and open up the year 1-0.

Match Two Recap: Manhattanville 0, Emerson 3 (20-25, 17-25, 19-25)
With little time to rest after the lengthy opener, the hosting Lions notched a three-set sweep of the Valiants in the final of Saturday's action to close out the trimatch.
Hernandez once again led the attack effort, joined by Jennings with 11 putaways. Vital notched another 28 assists, while Hernandez also led the dig effort with 13 for back-to-back double-doubles to open up the year.

The Lions opened up the match on a 6-3 run, providing enough separation that the Valiants were unable to recover from through the frame. After the Vals cut the deficit down to one, the Lions scored four straight to pull ahead 11-6. Manhattanville fought back, going on an 8-5 run to get back within two points before Emerson responded again with a string of points to regain some distance. The lead never fell back below three as the Lions took the opening frame 25-20.

The teams traded blows throughout the second set, with neither squad able to extend a lead beyond three points through the first half. The Lions staked claim to a 17-14 lead before Manhattanville earned back-to-back points to pull back within one. Emerson would then go on the biggest run of the frame with five straight points to pull away, 22-16. The Lions scored eight of the final nine points to close out the set and move one point away from victory.

Emerson hit .400 in the third set as the Valiants simply had no response to a lights-out attacking effort to close out the match. Manhattanville opened on a 5-1 run before the Lions went on to rattle off six straight points to take a 9-6 lead. Emerson never looked back, as while the Valiants were able to get back within one on multiple occasions, the Lions refused to break as they ultimately built up a six point cushion at 21-15. It would prove to be too much ground to make up for Manhattanville as they ultimately fell by a final of 25-19.

Up Next
The Valiants open up the home schedule on Tuesday night, hosting Ramapo at 7 p.m. inside Kennedy Gymnasium.

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