PURCHASE, N.Y. – The Manhattanville College women's volleyball team notched a dominant three-set sweep over Skyline Conference rival Farmingdale State on Thursday night. The victory (25-12, 25-12, 25-7) is the Valiants' third three-set sweep in a row to begin conference action as Manhattanville climbs to 6-8 overall and a perfect 3-0 against the Skyline.
Loren Hernandez (Toa Baja, Puerto Rico/American Military Academy) had a team-high 11 kills on a night where the Valiants sported a .310 attack percentage.
Meghan Wildes (Massapequa, N.Y./Massapequa) finished with seven putaways while
Sofia Morales (Tolland, Conn./Tolland) notched five.
Grace Ballagas (Carolina, Puerto Rico/Robinson School) led the defensive effort with 10 digs as she continues her climb to the 1,000 mark. The junior libero is now 24 digs shy of the plateau and will become the second Valiant this season to join the club after
Vianca Vital (Carolina, Puerto Rico/Perpetuo Socorro) hit the milestone earlier in the year.
Speaking of Vital, the graduate setter finished second on the team defensively with seven digs while adding 23 assists. Hernandez added six digs of her own, while both
Ayla Ruiz (Honolulu, Hawaii/St. Andrew's Schools) and
Katelyn Kamei (Honolulu, Hawaii/St. Andrew's Schools - The Priory) finished with four each.
Seeing each other for the first time since the Valiants' three set win in the 2022 Skyline Conference Championship Semifinals, Manhattanville effectively cut off the Rams' offensive chances all night long. Farmingdale hit a season-low -.146 and would log just 15 kills over the course of the night. The Valiants began to take control on the night on a four point run in the middle of the first set to jump ahead 10-7 before soon after rattling off five straight to climb to a 15-8 advantage. The lead never dipped below six points for the rest of the opening frame with the home team securing the set victory on six straight points capped off by a Ballagas ace.
A Vital ace opened up the second set for the Valiants as the home squad used three two-point runs to build up to a 7-3 advantage. After Sarah Rende put a ball away for the Rams, a service error returned control back on the side of the Valiants. Ruiz went to the line and would lead a 7-0 run highlighted by a pair of aces and two kills by Wildes. The 14-4 advantage was too much for the Rams to claw back from as Farmingdale would not record a point while in control of the serve until the Manhattanville lead swelled to 21-7. The Rams pieced together a string of four straight points, but the Valiants scored four of the final five to claim another 25-12 win to take a two set lead.
The Valiants continued to capitalize on the Rams' errors and hit .471 in the final set to close out a convincing win. Leading 9-5, Ruiz once again took to the serve to start a huge run as the Valiants scored seven unanswered points. Smelling the blood in the water, Manhattanville never let up on the pressure as they held Farmingdale to just two points across the final 11 rallies. The Valiants closed out the night byt scoring the final seven points, with Hernandez spelling an end to the match with her 11
th kill of the night.
Up Next
The Valiants will celebrate their 2022 Skyline Conference Championship title with a banner-raising ceremony ahead of Saturday's contest. The festivities are slated to begin at 12:20 before Manhattanville hosts Baruch at 12:30 p.m.
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