PURCHASE, N.Y. – The Manhattanville University women's volleyball team will be competing for a Skyline Conference Championship for a fifth-straight season as the top-seeded Valiants were victorious in Thursday's semifinals battle against No. 5 Sarah Lawrence. The four-set win (25-27, 25-20, 25-17, 25-21) brings a title match inside Kennedy Gymnasium for a second year in a row, as the Valiants improve to 19-9 on the year while Sarah Lawrence's season comes to an end with a final record of 17-10.
Skyline Conference Player of the Year
Loren Hernandez (Toa Baja, Puerto Rico/American Military Academy) picked up right where she left off at the end of the regular season, leading the way offensively. The junior had a team-best 23 kills, her second-most in a match this season, while earning 12 digs for her 13
th double-double of the campaign.
Ayla Ruiz (Honolulu, Hawaii/St. Andrew's Schools) also reached double figures with 12 putaways, while
Sofia Morales (Tolland, Conn./Tolland) finished with eight.
Another conference accolade recipient,
Grace Ballagas (Carolina, Puerto Rico/Robinson School) built upon her Libero of the Year resume with 27 digs and five aces, both topping the categories for the Valiants in the win.
Kayla Jennings (Yorktown Heights, N.Y./Lakeland) tallied 13 digs, her most in a match since finishing with 17 against Yeshiva back on Sept. 19, while
Alana Rivera (Guaynabo, Puerto Rico/Colegio Marista de Guaynabo) added 11.
Speaking of Rivera, she too tallied a double-double, adding 19 assists to her dig total. She and
Samantha Andriola (Garden City South, N.Y./Sacred Heart Academy) split setting duties throughout the night, with Andriola collecting 24 to pace Manhattanville.
Coming off their opening round win over No. 4 Farmingdale on Tuesday, Sarah Lawrence was determined to take down another top seed to prolong the Gryphon season. It was the visitors gaining the upper-hand to open the night as Sarah Lawrence claimed the first set. The opening frame saw ten different tied scores before the dust finally settled. The Gryphons staked claim to an early 6-3 lead and continued to lead up to 8-5 when Manhattanville rattled off five straight points, led by a pair of aces from
Eva Kocovic (Bronx, N.Y./Maria Regina High School). The Valiants continued to maintain control up to a 19-13 advantage, with signs pointing to an opening set win by the top seed. Sarah Lawrence begged to differ, scoring five straight to cut the Valiant lead all the way down to a single point before taking the lead four rallies later at 21-20. The teams battled to a 23-23 score, with Hernandez breaking the stalemate with a kill to put Manhattanville on set point. The Gryphons notched the next two to make it set point in their favor, and while Hernandez was able to prolong the frame with one last kill, the visitors notched putaways from their All-Conference stars Athena Kazos and Nikolet Vataj to fire the opening salvo, 27-25.
Following an opening attack error to begin set two, the Valiants went on a four-point run with kills by Hernandez and Morales, a Rivera ace, and a Gryphon attack error to take a 4-1 lead. The advantage never left Manhattanville's side of the scoreboard as the home team evened the match up at a set apiece. Sarah Lawrence pulled back to within a single point twice at 12-11 and 13-12, but a 5-1 Valiant run gave Manhattanville just enough breathing room to get to the finish line. Facing match point, the Gryphons scored three straight to stay alive, but Ruiz slammed the door shut with a set-winning kill, 25-20.
Manhattanville hit a match-high .250 in the third set while the Gryphons finished with eight errors to eight kills. Sarah Lawrence was able to shrug off the hitting woes early, leading 10-8, before Manhattanville came to life with a 7-0 run. That shifted momentum permanently onto the Valiant side of the court, as the Gryphons never got back closer than three. Sarah Lawrence was held to just one point over the remainder of the set while controlling the serve, with Manhattanville closing things out with another Hernandez kills, 25-17.
The Valiants struggled to replicate the previous set's hitting success, swinging .05 as a team in the fourth, but Manhattanville was able to power through the attacking struggles to mark a return to the title match. With the season on the line, the Gryphons were beneficiaries of a quick four points to open the set, three of which came via Manhattanville attack errors. The Valiants responded in suit with four points of their own, but the Gryphons retook the lead following a pair of kills by Kazos and one from Vataj. Manhattanville tied things up once again at 9-9 following another four-point run, but the Gryphons continued to push the defending champs to the limit, going back in front with a three-point run that began a larger 11-6 stretch that put the visitors up 20-15. Back-to-back Gryphon attack errors left the door open for Manhattanville to come storming back, tying things up following a
Meghan Wildes (Massapequa, N.Y./Massapequa) and Morales combined block and a pair of Morales kills. Vataj got the Gryphons back in the lead with her 17
th kill of the night, but an error on the ensuing serve tied things up once again and more importantly, gave Manhattanville control of the serve, A Morales kill put the Valiants ahead before Ballagas served three straight aces to complete the comeback and win the match, 25-21.
Up Next
Familiar foes meet on Saturday for the Skyline Conference title. No. 2 USMMA defeated third-seeded Saint Joseph's Long Island in the other semifinals match on Thursday in five sets, setting the stage for the top two seeds to battle for the crown. The Valiants and Mariners play in the finals for the fourth time in five seasons at 1 p.m. inside Kennedy Gymnasium.
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