PURCHASE, N.Y. – The Manhattanville College men's volleyball team returned home on Wednesday night to get back into the win column, defeating Elms College in four sets. With the win (22-25, 25-18, 25-23, 25-14), the Valiants improve to 2-5 in their inaugural season.
The attack was led by the two-headed threat of
Wilton Martinez (Bronx, N.Y./Celia Cruz Bronx HS of Music) and
Emil Morban Medrano (San Cristobal, Republica Dominicana/HS for Environmental Studies) accounting for 25 of the team's 34 kills. Martinez finished with a team-high 13 digs, his third time reaching double-figures on the year, while Medrano's 12 was one shy of his season-best from the season-opener against Penn State Altoona.
The duo would also shine on the defensive side of the court amongst the team's dig leaders. Medrano was matched by
Joe Gandarillas (Farmingville, N.Y./Sachem HS East) with a team-high eight digs, while Martinez contributed seven.
Pedro Barros Machado (Vitoria da Conquista, Brazil/Colegio Oficina) racked up a personal best of 33 assists in the win as the team's leading setter. Machado also found success with the serve, logging a season-high six aces. Gandarillas notched five aces of his own as the Valiants finished the match with 22 aces, a single-match high for the young program.
After dropping the first set on the heels of a .089 hitting percentage, the Valiants bounced back to take the next three as the attack improved throughout the night. Manhattanville began the second frame on a 4-1 run, holding the lead until the Blazers pulled even at 10-10. The Valiants went on a 5-0 run to break the tie, retaking control of the serve off a Jacob Flecther kill before Martinez putaway two straight ahead of back-to-back Gandarillas aces. The Valiants never surrendered the lead, tying the match up at a set apiece with the 25-18 victory.
The Valiants once again staked claim to an early lead in the third, going up 6-3, but once again Elms fought back to even at 11-11. This time, the visitors would not go away as easily as the Blazers went ahead 16-14. The Valiants went back in front with four straight points, capped off by two straight aces by
Jake Rothluebbers (Redondo Beach, Calif./Redondo Union High School), but Elms would notch things up again at 18-18. Two volleys later, a Martinez kill began a crucial 3-0 run that brought the Valiants within reach of set point. The Blazers got back within one on three separate occasions as the set winded down, but the Valiants held the scoring advantage and were able to go up 2-1 with a 25-23 win after a Blazer attack error.
Manhattanville played their cleanest ball in the fourth and final set, committing just one error versus eight kills. After the Blazers went up 3-2, the Valiants scored four straight as part of a larger 8-1 run that firmly put control on Manhattanville's side. The Blazers fought back within three, but Manhattanville went on a 5-0 run to go comfortably ahead 16-8. From there, it was a march to the finish line, capped off by a final kill from Medrano to close out the night.
Up Next
The Valiants head upstate to Rochester for the weekend for three matches in two days. Action from Nazareth University for Manhattanville begins on Friday at 5 p.m. in a neutral court matchup with Buffalo State.
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