PURCHASE, N.Y. – Three-peat! The Manhattanville University women's volleyball team's dynasty continues as the Valiants won a third-consecutive Skyline Conference Championship on Saturday afternoon. Top-seeded Manhattanville took down No. 2 USMMA in a three-set sweep to capture the fifth conference title in program history and the team's fourth-ever Skyline title, all captured in the last five years.
Skyline Player of the Year
Loren Hernandez (Toa Baja, Puerto Rico/American Military Academy) earned Tournament Most Outstanding Player honors with her second double-double of the tournament, leading the attack with 17 kills while collecting 11 digs on the defensive end. The junior posted 40 total kills with 23 digs in the pair of postseason wins in the latest additions to her phenomenal season.
Hernandez was joined by
Ayla Ruiz (Honolulu, Hawaii/St. Andrew's Schools),
Sofia Morales (Tolland, Conn./Tolland) and
Emily Brown (Kaneohe, Hawaii/Damien Memorial) as the team's leading attackers in the sweep. Senior Ruiz notched nine putaways, while grad student Morales and junior Brown logged five kills each.
Grace Ballagas' (Carolina, Puerto Rico/Robinson School) 15 digs led Manhattanville's defensive effort.
Kayla Jennings (Yorktown Heights, N.Y./Lakeland) added nine digs alongside her team-high five aces, while
Alyssa Bucci (Rye Brook, N.Y./Blind Brook High School) provided six.
On the assist front,
Samantha Andriola (Garden City South, N.Y./Sacred Heart Academy) collected 21 helpers along with three aces, a kill and a block assist.
Alana Rivera (Guaynabo, Puerto Rico/Colegio Marista de Guaynabo) also played a crucial setter role with 11 assists.
Hernandez got the party started with back-to-back kills to open up play, spotting the home side an early lead. The Mariners would take their first lead of the day at 4-3, but the Valiants put up eight of the next ten points to open up a five-point advantage at 11-6. USMMA cut the deficit down to two at 12-10 before the Valiants continued to keep distance with another key run, scoring five of the next six to go up 17-11. The Mariners refused to go away easily, pulling back to within two points on three separate occasions. With the score sitting at 20-18, Hernandez notched a kill to regain control of the serve before a
Meghan Wildes (Massapequa, N.Y./Massapequa) kill and back-to-back USMMA attack errors brought the Valiants up to set point. The Mariners fired off one last blow with the next three points before Hernandez called set with her final kill of the opener to take it 25-21.
Both teams had their best hitting performance of the match in the second set, but the Valiants swung .250 to take the upper hand. The Mariners took the lead to open play at 7-3 before Manhattanville scored six straight off pairs of kills by Brown and Ruiz, another putaway from Morales, and a Jennings ace. The Valiants never trailed after taking the 9-7 advantage as Merchant Marine could not piece together a run larger than three points for the rest of the frame. Manhattanville put up three straight points following a Mariner attack error and kills by Brown and Ruiz to go up 24-17, and while a service error halted the Valiants temporarily, it was Hernandez once again delivering the final blow to win the second set 25-18.
The Mariners hit negative in the third set against Manhattanville's .219 clip as the home side pulled off the sweep in dominant fashion in the final frame. Already leading 6-4, Manhattanville put up ten unanswered points, highlighted by four aces by Jennings to blow the set open. USMMA was unable to respond to the big blow, piecing together a set-long run of just three points that made it a 20-11 score. Wildes and Andriola combined for a block to regain control of the serve for Manhattanville as a pair of Andriola aces sandwiched two final Hernandez kills to win the match 25-11 and deliver the Valiants their third volleyball title in as many season.
Up Next
The Valiants will find out their NCAA Tournament draw on Monday during the selection show starting at 1 p.m. The opening matches of the regional round will take place on Thursday, Nov. 21.
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