THROGGS NECK, N.Y. – The Manhattanville University women's volleyball team picked up their fifth-straight win on Saturday morning, sweeping Maritime in three sets. The Valiants continue to pick up steam as October nears the halfway point, improving to 11-8 on the year while remaining a perfect 5-0 in Skyline Conference play.

Aurea Obradors (Barcelona, Spain/Benjamin Franklin International School) set a new career-high with nine kills in the win, leading the Manhattanville attack effort. Loren Hernandez (Toa Baja, Puerto Rico/American Military Academy) added eight while Sofia Morales (Tolland, Conn./Tolland) chipped in seven.

Hernandez showed up on the defensive end with a team-high 13 digs. While her double-double streak came to a close at four-straight, the junior has now posted 10 or more digs in five straight matches. Joining Hernandez in double figures was Kayla Jennings (Yorktown Heights, N.Y./Lakeland), who notched 10 digs in her two sets of play along with a team-high four aces.

Alana Rivera (Guaynabo, Puerto Rico/Colegio Marista de Guaynabo) accounted for 28 of the Valiants' 33 assists while digging seven balls. Her dig total was matched by Eva Kocovic (Bronx, N.Y./Maria Regina High School), her second-highest single-match total of the year.

The Valiants got off to a slow start in the early morning matchup, hitting just .049 on nine kills to seven errors. Fortunately for the Valiants, the Privateers didn't fare any better with seven errors matching their seven kills. With Maritime leading 3-2, the Valiants took over with a 10-1 run that saw a pair of Grace Ballagas (Carolina, Puerto Rico/Robinson School) aces and a kill apiece by Hernandez, Morales and Samantha Andriola (Garden City South, N.Y./Sacred Heart Academy). The Privateers were held in check for a majority of the set as the Valiants used another six-point run to go up 21-9. Maritime pieced together their best play of the frame with four consecutive points as part of a larger 6-3 run, but it was too late as a service error gave the Valiants set point, 25-15.

Both teams' attack efforts fared better in the second set, resulting in the tightest frame of the day. It looked like the Valiants were poised to run away with things again as they went on a six-point run to take a 7-2 lead. The Privateers had other plans, responding with eight straight points of their own to come roaring back with a 10-7 lead. The Vals were quick to even things up at 10 apiece, but the Privateers went back in front with the next four points. Truly a set of runs, Manhattanville accounted for the next seven points courtesy of a pair of Morales kills, a Kocovic ace, and Andriola block and three Martiime attack errors. Manhattanville never relinquished the lead, as while Maritime got back within a single point on four separate occasions, the Valiants finally put the set to bed on a 4-0 run, winning the set 25-20 on a Morales putaway.

Manhattanville hit a match-bets .296 to wrap up the sweep. The Valiants used a pair of six-point runs to jump out to a 12-3 lead. The Privateers could not muster a response, being limited to just five two-point runs over the duration of the set. Up 22-14, an Obradors kill regained control of the serve for the Valiants before Kocovic notched a pair of aces to earn the win, 25-14.  

Up Next
It's a one-match week for the Valiants next week, as the team sees their lone action on the road Thursday night at Farmingdale.

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