HUNTINGDON, Pa. – The 2024 Manhattanville University women's volleyball team concluded the season on Thursday afternoon with a three-set loss to Gettysburg College in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament. The Valiants officially end the year with a 20-10 overall record, winners of three-straight Skyline Conference Championship titles.

Loren Hernandez (Toa Baja, Puerto Rico/American Military Academy) wrapped up her Skyline Player of the Year season with seven kills to lead Manhattanville's attack. The junior outside hitter finishes the year with 390 putaways, the second most in a single season in program history behind Austen Brauer's 403 in 2019. Hernandez now holds two of the top-four kill seasons ever by a Valiant, with her total of 355 from a year ago now situated fourth in the program record book. She is also now firmly in second all-time for career kills with 944, primed to circle in on Kerry Mackey's record of 1,000 set in 2017.

Ayla Ruiz (Honolulu, Hawaii/St. Andrew's Schools) provided six kills in her final collegiate match. The senior leaves her legacy as one of the top attack threats in program history, joining Hernandez as one of four players to ever eclipse 900 kills. Ruiz ends her career with 916 total kills, ranking third in the program record book behind only Mackey and Hernandez.

Sofia Morales (Tolland, Conn./Tolland) added five kills to round out Manhattanville's leading offensive performers. The graduate student finishes with 564 career kills and a .199 attack percentage. Morales also finished the match with a pair of block assists to lead the team and finish her career with 137 total blocks.

Grace Ballagas (Carolina, Puerto Rico/Robinson School) also concluded her Valiant career as the libero tallied her final five digs. The senior departs as Manhattanville's all-time digs leader with 1,856. Her 540 digs in 2024 is the third-most posted in a single-season by a Valiant and is the most recorded by anyone on the team since 2017 when Monica Lopez earned a program-record 581. Hernandez provided four digs, while Samantha Andriola (Garden City South, N.Y./Sacred Heart Academy) and Alana Rivera (Guaynabo, Puerto Rico/Colegio Marista de Guaynabo) finished with three apiece.

Rivera and Andriola were also the Valiants' leading setters, combining for 19 of Manhattanville's 21 total assists. Rivera led the way with 11 while Andriola had eight along with two aces, trailing only Kayla Jennings (Yorktown Heights, N.Y./Lakeland) who had three to lead the Valiants. Manhattanville's final two assists came courtesy of Ballagas.

The Bullets hit .435 in the match, the best attacking effort an opposing offense had against the Valiants all season. Manhattanville simply could not keep pace with Gettysburg's attack with the Bullets opening the match with a ridiculous .565 rate in the first set. Manhattanville began the match with two quick points off a Hernandez kill and an Andriola ace, but it would quickly become all Bullets. Gettysburg forced eight Manhattanville side-outs without the Valiants recording a point as Manhattanville scored just one more point over the duration of the set while holding the serve. With the Valiants unable to sustain an attack, the Bullets marched towards set point, going ahead 24-11 off a five-point run. Emily Brown (Kaneohe, Hawaii/Damien Memorial) kept the Valiants alive with a kill but an ensuing service error put the Bullets on the board with their first set.

Hernandez and Ruiz provided the Valiants their opening points of the second set with a kill apiece but it did little to stymy the Bullets who opened the frame on a 7-2 run. Gettysburg continued to hold the five-point lead at 10-5 when Manhattanville put forth their longest run of the match with four-straight points. Back-to-back putaways by Hernandez prefaced a Morales kill and Andriola ace to get the Valiants back to within one. Unfortunately, a setting error on the following rally opened the door for Gettysburg to rattle off six-straight points and pull away. The Valiants would be limited to five more points across the remainder of the set and couldn't get a run longer than two points to try and fight back again. Morales and Megan Wildes combined for a block, Hernandez and Jennings served an ace each and Ruiz got a kill to account for Manhattanville's final points, coupled with a Bullet service error. Gettysburg took the set on a three-point run, 25-14, to put the Valiants on the brink of elimination.

Manhattanville got a kill from Wildes and a Gettysburg attack error to take a 2-0 lead to open the third before the Bullets once again came to life with a run to jump ahead 5-2. The Valiants scored just twice while controlling the serve as Gettysburg forced seven more side-outs without Manhattanville chipping into the deficit. Morales and Ruiz both notched a pair of kills in the set while Hernandez collected her final one of the outing, but the Bullets put the finishing touches on their first round win, taking the third set 25-13 on a three-point run to advance to Friday's second round against Middlebury.

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