WILKES-BARRE, Pa. – Taking to the court for the first time in program history over the weekend, the Manhattanville College men's volleyball team made its highly-anticipated debut at the Wilkes Tri-Match. Despite the pair of 3-1 losses to Penn State Altoona and host Wilkes, the Valiants ushered in a new chapter in the growing history of Manhattanville Athletics, becoming the department's 24^th active varsity team.

Match One Recap: Manhattanville 1, Penn State Altoona 3 (18-25, 12-25, 25-22, 19-25)
The Valiants got their first taste of competition to begin the day against Penn State Altoona in a neutral site match. After dropping the first two sets, Manhattanville would earn the first set victory in program history in the third before dropping the match in the fourth frame.

Wilton Martinez (Bronx, N.Y./Celia Cruz Bronx HS of Music) led the attack effort with 15 kills, trailed closely behind by Emil Morban Medrano's (San Cristobal, Republica Dominicana/HS for Environmental Studies) 13 putaways. Setter Pedro Barros Machado (Vitoria da Conquista, Brazil/Colegio Oficina) accounted for 32 of the team's 35 total assists and would also be prominent contributor defensively with six digs. He finished behind only Nash Torres (Bayamon, Puerto Rico/Colegio Rosa-Bell) on the team, with the Valiant libero recording eight digs in his debut. Machado would also finish with a team-high four aces.

The first point in program history would be logged by Emil Morban Medrano (San Cristobal, Republica Dominicana/HS for Environmental Studies), killing a set from Machado to account for the match's opening point. However, the Nittany Lions responded with six straight points against the young Valiant team to put Manhattanville in a hole they would be unable to dig out of. The closest the Valiants would get would be a deficit of four as Penn State Altoona began their march to set point. A late four-point rally by Manhattanville pulled the Valiants closer at 22-17, but the Nittany Lions scored three of the next four to take the opener.

Manhattanville struggled to get going in the second set as they hit a match-low -0.05 percent. While Penn State scored the opening three points, the Valiants hung around as the score moved to 6-5. From there, the Nittany Lions began to pull away, ultimately going on an 8-0 run that put the team up 19-8. The Valiants would be held without a point while in control of the serve the rest of the way as Penn state picked up the second set win, 25-12.

The Valiants played their best ball in the third set, logging a match-high 14 kills while hitting .296 to capture their first set point. A back-and-forth frame that saw nine separate tied scores, the teams battled to a 7-7 tie. Manhattanville went back in front with a kill from Medrano and Jacob Fletcher (Rocklin, Calif./Western Sierra Collegiate Academy) ace before the Nittany Lions got a point back. In response, the Valiants went on their longest run of the match with six straight points, jumping out in front 15-8. The Nittany Lions refused to go away, responding with seven straight points of their own to even the score once again. Manhattanville would go back up soon after on a 3-0 run that moved the score to 19-17 and would be able to hold off Penn state Altoona the rest of the way as Joe Gandarillas (Farmingville, N.Y./Sachem HS East) earned set point with a kill, 25-22.

Despite the momentum they grabbed with the third set victory, Manhattanville was unable to force the deciding fifth as they fell to the Nittany Lions in the fourth. Penn State Altoona jumped out to a 3-1 lead that ballooned to 9-4. Manhattanville clawed back to tie things up at 13-13, but the Nittany Lions collected five of the next six points to reclaim a lead they would not relinquish, falling by a final of 25-19.

Match Two Recap: Manhattanville 1, Wilkes 3 (28-26, 17-25, 20-25, 17-25)
The upstart Vals would take it to hosting Wilkes by claiming the first frame, but were unable to earn anymore as the Colonels rattled off wins in the next three sets to send the Valiants home with an 0-2 start to the year.

Martinez once again took point as the team's leading attacker with 17 kills, while Gandarillas put away ten. Gandarillas also added a team-high four aces in the match,

Machado supplied 27 assists, while Torres once again led the defensive effort with eight digs. Fletcher was a net presence with four blocks for Manhattanville.

The Valiants found themselves down 7-3 to begin the opening frame and continued to trail as Wilkes went ahead 12-7. Manhattanville scored five straight to pull back even before the Colonels went back in front with three straight points. The Valiants responded once again by knotting things up at 15-15 and would briefly go in front at 18-17. The teams traded three-point swings and would find themselves locked up at 23-23. Wilkes broke the tie to advance to set point, but the Valiants scored twice to extend the set. After the Colonels went back up with two points of their own, Manhattanville put an end to the marathon with a kill from Gandarillas and back-to-back aces by Jake Rothluebbers (Redondo Beach, Calif./Redondo Union High School) to take the frame, 28-26.

The Colonels responded to the opening set loss by successfully limiting Manhattanville's opportunities with the serve. The Valiants would be unable to string a run together of more than two points for the duration of the frame, allowing Wilkes to methodically build up the lead towards set point. Up 14-12, the Colonels began to pull away with a three-point string before a 5-0 run soon after put the home squad up 23-15. Manhattanville was unable to make up the deficit with the Colonels tying the match up at 1-1.

Manhattanville had their best hitting effort of the day in set three with a .375 mark, but Wilkes was able to fair marginally better with a .393 clip to take the third. The Valiants were once again limited while in control of the serve, but were able to hold Wilkes' attack in check for the early going. The Colonels delivered the big blow while up 10-8 with a 4-0 run to go up by six. Manhattanville would show signs with a pair of three-point runs to pull back within two, trailing 19-17, but the Colonels scored six of the next nine points to take the set and go up 2-1.

The Valiants were unable to replicate their hitting success from the set prior as the team logged just five kills in the fourth frame. Despite the attacking struggles, Manhattanville was in it for most of the set, staking claim to a 13-12 lead. The Colonels switched into another gear from there, scoring the next seven points in a row to firmly pull away. The deficit was too steep for the Valiants to fight their way back from, falling by a final of 25-17.

Up Next
Fans will get their first look at the men's volleyball program on Wednesday night as the team makes its home debut at 7 p.m. against Pratt.

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