PATCHOGUE, N.Y. – Capping off a second-straight perfect regular season in conference play, the Manhattanville University women's volleyball team secured the No. 1 seed for next week's Skyline Conference Championship Tournament with a three-set sweep of Saint Joseph's Long Island on Tuesday night. The win (25-13, 25-19, 25-20) brings the Valiants to 17-9 overall and caps off an 11-0 Skyline Conference slate, Manhattanville's 33^rd consecutive win over Skyline rivals dating back to 2022.

Winners of the last two Skyline titles, the Valiants will have home court advantage for the duration of their postseason run as a result of Tuesday's victory in the meeting of the two teams atop the conference standings and a rematch of last season's title match.

Loren Hernandez (Toa Baja, Puerto Rico/American Military Academy) shined in one of the team's biggest matches of the year, leading Manhattanville with 17 kills and six aces while adding six digs and an assist. The attack effort was complimented by seven kills each from Ayla Ruiz (Honolulu, Hawaii/St. Andrew's Schools) and Sofia Morales (Tolland, Conn./Tolland).

Alana Rivera (Guaynabo, Puerto Rico/Colegio Marista de Guaynabo) tallied a 22 assist, 10 dig double-double, leading the Valiants as the primary setter. Samantha Andriola (Garden City South, N.Y./Sacred Heart Academy) provided nine assists while Grace Ballagas (Carolina, Puerto Rico/Robinson School) chipped in four.

On the topic of Ballagas, the Skyline Libero of the Week led Manhattanville's defensive play with 25 digs. In addition to Ruiz' offensive performance, the senior outside hitter contributed with 12 more digs, finishing second on the team.

The Valiants came out firing to begin the night, swinging a match-high .243 in the most one-sided score of the contest. After both sides opened with two-point runs, the Valiants erupted to take 12 of the following 13 points to take a 14-3 advantage. The Golden Eagles never pulled closer than within seven points in the opener. Manhattanville all but put the set to bed with another six-point run to go up 23-10, with Ruiz putting a caper on the frame with a set-winning kill at 25-13.

While the Golden Eagles bounced back from a slow start to hit a match-best .189 in the second set, the Valiants logged 14 kills to take the second frame. Manhattanville struck first for the opening three points courtesy of two kills by Hernandez and one from Morales before the home side rattled off five straight. The next four points went onto Manhattanville's side of the scoreboard before the Golden Eagles took a lead once again at 9-8. The Valiants seized momentum with a 7-1 run to jump out to a 15-10 lead, later swelling to 19-12. Saint Joseph's had one more punch with seven of the following 10 points to close the gap down to three, but the Valiants secured set point with three straight tallies, with Emily Brown (Kaneohe, Hawaii/Damien Memorial) delivering the final strike with a putaway to win 25-19.

The third set would be the closest from a scoring standpoint, but Saint Joseph's hit a match low .021 to provide the Valiants the opening needed to secure the sweep. The home side benefited with a 9-4 opening run before the guests exploded to an 8-0 run, benefitting from three Saint Joseph's attack errors and four Hernandez kills. The Golden Eagles shook off the big blow momentarily, tying things up at 14-14, but the Valiants scored the next four to pull ahead 18-14. Saint Joseph's never got back closer than a three-point hole, with a final attack error spelling an end to the Golden Eagles' night and clinching the Valiants the regular season crown with the 25-20 win.

Up Next
Now knowing what the postseason picture looks like, the Valiants wrap up the regular season with a non-conference tilt tomorrow in Danbury against Western Connecticut at 7 p.m.

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