PURCHASE, N.Y. – Reaching the midway point of a five-match homestand, the Manhattanville University women's volleyball team extended its season-high win streak to nine with a three-set sweep of Saint Joseph's University Brooklyn on Monday night. The Valiants inch forward to securing the top seed in the Skyline Conference, now standing at 9-0 in conference play with two more matches left in the Skyline slate. The win also improves Manhattanville's overall record to 15-8.
The Valiants were led offensively by rookie
Lea McIntyre (Lansingburgh, N.Y./Lansingburgh). The freshman matched her season-high with nine kills, previously setting the benchmark against Yeshiva back on Sept. 19.
Ayla Ruiz (Honolulu, Hawaii/St. Andrew's Schools) and
Emily Brown (Kaneohe, Hawaii/Damien Memorial) each finished with eight putaways, with Brown hitting an extremely efficient .636 on the night, committing just one attack error.
Sofia Morales (Tolland, Conn./Tolland) also featured in the attack effort with six kills.
Grace Ballagas' (Carolina, Puerto Rico/Robinson School) 28 digs led Manhattanville, as the senior reached 20 or more digs for the tenth time this season.
Samantha Andriola (Garden City South, N.Y./Sacred Heart Academy) chipped in with 10 digs to go alongside her team-leading 25 assists to collect her third double-double of the year.
Alana Rivera (Guaynabo, Puerto Rico/Colegio Marista de Guaynabo) added five assists in her lone set of action, with Ballagas providing the team's final four of the affair.
Manhattanville improved in the attacking effort as the night went on, but had to break through in the opening set after finishing with nine kills to nine errors. Trailing 4-3, the Valiants went on a five-point swing to take the biggest advantage of the early going. It was a short-lived lead though as the Bears immediately responded with four straight points of their own. Tied up again at 8-8, the Valiants used another five-point run that was capped off with back-to-back Ballagas aces to jump ahead 13-8. Manhattanville never relinquished the lead, building up an eight-point advantage at 21-13. The Bears did not go away easily, scoring eight of the next 12 points, but the scoreboard was not in Saint Joseph's favor as a
Meghan Wildes (Massapequa, N.Y./Massapequa) block put an end to the set with a 25-21 Manhattanville win.
The Valiants bumped up the attack percentage to .257 in the second set, logging 14 kills to five errors. Manhattanville effectively snuffed out the Bears' opportunities with the ball, holding Saint Joseph's to a lone three-point run in the frame. While the Valiants themselves did not have a run higher than three until the tailend of the set, the home squad generated distance by limiting Saint Joseph's to one-and-dones while controlling the serve. The Vals finally got a four-point swing to push the score up to 24-14 with back-to-back Wildes kills, winning the point two rallies later on a Bear attack error, 25-15.
For the final showing of the night, Manhattanville hit an impressive .571 in the third set, earning 13 kills to just one error to complete the sweep. The Valiants limited the Bears to just two kills in the set, making quick work for the most lopsided score of the evening. Manhattanville opened on a 9-2 run and never looked back as Saint Joseph's mustered only two points while holding the serve. Ahead 13-7, the Valiants rattled off six consecutive points, featuring a pair of
Sofia Napolitano (Bronx, N.Y./Preston) aces and kills from Andriola and Brown, to go up 19-7. A service error only hindered the Vals temporarily, as Manhattanville scored the next six to take match point, claiming the 25-8 victory off Brown's final kill of the night.
Up Next
The Valiants close out October on Wednesday night, hosting Union for a late-season non-conference tilt at 7 p.m.
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