PURCHASE, N.Y. – In a close contest that came down to the wire, the Manhattanville College men's volleyball team earned a hard fought five set victory over Russell Sage College on Wednesday evening. With the win, the Valiants improved to 3-7 overall on the young season.
Manhattanville pulled out all the stops in their first five set affair of the season.
Emil Morban Medrano (San Cristobal, Republica Dominicana/HS for Environmental Studies) led the attack with 12 kills, followed by nine from
Wilton Martinez (Bronx, N.Y./Celia Cruz Bronx HS of Music) and eight from
Joe Gandarillas (Farmingville, N.Y./Sachem HS East).
Pedro Barros Machado (Vitoria da Conquista, Brazil/Colegio Oficina) and Medrano would serve as the defensive leaders with ten digs apiece. Machado would record 31 assists as the Valiants' primary setter.
The Valiants would take control on the home court early, claiming the first two sets and taking the first two points of the night. It would be a small lead but one that would have the Gators playing catch up for some time. Sage would struggle through service and attack errors before finding their own momentum driven by Jarod Martel. The rest of the opening set would be a back-and-forth affair as the Gators would build off a three-point stretch at the 16-16 mark. There would be ten ties through the opening frame as the Valiants only had a 0.1 hitting percentage. They would win the first set, 25-23.
In the second set, Manhattanville hit low but found some spurts of offensive dominance. The Gators would take an early 6-2 lead before the Valiants would continue to fight back winning a point then losing a point until they took the lead back at 14-13 off an ace from
Jacob Fletcher (Rocklin, Calif./Western Sierra Collegiate Academy). The play would be very evenly matched between the Valiants and the Gators as each point could truly go to either team. After tying it up 24-24 and then 25-25, it would tie up for the final time at 26-26 when the Valiants would win it off a Sage service ace and a kill from Gandarillas. Manhattanville would take a 2-0 set lead.
Although, the next two would go to the Gators. A solid 0.2 hitting percentage with continuity throughout their playing, the Gators would keep the Valiants on their toes and at a disadvantage the entire set. Manhattanville would stay on their heels but ultimately lose the third set, 25-23 after a four-kill performance from Dylan Fox and a pair from Martel, Spencer Cooper, and Michael Bruyette.
After a successful set for Sage, they rode their momentum into the fourth set, hitting a match-high 0.381. Manhattanville would also find some success in multiple scoring runs with an eventual five straight points to tie it up before the Gators would score five of their own taking the fourth set, 25-20. It would be a three-kill set for Medrano, and Machado would tally a pair, but it would not be enough to end the match for Manhattanville.
In the final set, the Valiants would be playing from behind after going down 4-0. They would fight their way back from a seven-point deficit as Gandarillas would help the team to victory, recording a kill followed by three straight service aces. Manhattanville would tally six straight points for a 15-13 final score.
The Valiants will take the weekend off and hit the road next Thursday as they take on Brooklyn College on Feb. 22 at 6 p.m.
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