NEW YORK, N.Y. – A match that needed five sets to determine a winner, the Manhattanville College men's volleyball team defeated Yeshiva 3-2 on Tuesday night. The Valiants improve to 9-12 overall and 5-6 in the Skyline with the victory.

A pair of double-doubles helped lead the Valiants to the win. Emil Morban Medrano (San Cristobal, Republica Dominicana/HS for Environmental Studies) led the attacking effort as he notched his sixth double-double of his freshman campaign with a 21 kill, 12 dig effort. The defensive performance was replicated by Idris Idris (Kassala, Sudan/JFK High School), who in addition to also leading the team in digs, the graduate setter posted 49 assists, a new single-match record in the team's inaugural season. It was the second double-double of Idris' season.

Wilton Martinez (Bronx, N.Y./Celia Cruz Bronx HS of Music) finished just behind Medrano in the attack effort with 20 kills, adding a pair of aces with three digs. Jacob Fletcher (Rocklin, Calif./Western Sierra Collegiate Academy) contributed five putaways while Jake Rothluebbers (Redondo Beach, Calif./Redondo Union High School) added four. Joe Gandarillas (Farmingville, N.Y./Sachem HS East) collected eight digs with Rothluebbers adding seven along with three blocks, a total matched by Luis Granados (Pasadena, Calif./St. Francis) at the net.

The Valiants took the opening two sets with their best hitting performances of the night. Following four separate tied scores in the first set that led to a 6-6 tie, the Valiants took a lead they never relented following back-to-back kills by Medrano. The pair of kills began a 10-4 run that gave Manhattanville some much-needed breathing room against the Maccabees to go up 16-10. The Valiants continued to keep separation, climbing towards set point after a Martinez kill and Medrano ace had Manhattanville leading 21-14. Not ready to go away easily, Yeshiva scored the next four points to come back within reach. The Valiants held firm despite the Maccabee run, scoring four of the next six points to claim the opening set 25-20.

After hitting .233 in the first set, the Valiants posting a .227 hitting percentage in the second while the Maccabees had eight errors to match their eight kills. Yeshiva got a set-opening kill from Andrew Pinchot before the Valiants scored four straight with a pair of kills by Martinez and one each from Medrano and Rothluebbers. Unlike the opening frame's tight matchup, the Maccabees couldn't piece together a sustainable run after falling behind 9-3. Yeshiva managed to only fight back within three before the Valiants jumped back up eight, leading 21-13. A kill from Rothluebbers put the Valiants ahead 2-0 with the 25-17 set victory.

The Valiants faltered in the third set with a negative hitting percentage. Despite the Maccabees logging just six kills in the set, Manhattanville's 14 errors opened the door for Yeshiva to fight back. A 3-0 Yeshiva start to the set with all points coming off Valiant attack errors was enough for the Macabees to lead for the entirety of the set. The Macs led by as many as nine points, up 23-14 at the tail end of the set. A 4-0 run for the Valiants made things closer, but it was too late to stage a comeback effort with Yeshiva getting on the board with a 25-18 win.

While the Valiants were able to get back into a positive hitting percentage in the fourth set, the Maccabees brought the match even on a night-high .258 mark. After neither team could seize a sizeable lead through the early going, the Valiants used a 4-0 run to take a 13-10 advantage. The Valiants remained in front as the score moved to 16-14, at which point Yeshiva was able to rattle off six straight points to flip momentum on their side of the floor. Manhattanville scored the next three points to bring the deficit down to one, but the Maccabees followed in suit with three straight of their own to go up 23-19. Manhattanville would only add one more point in the set off a Martinez kill before a Valiant service error and a Yeshiva ace sent the match to a deciding fifth set.

Despite Yeshiva's attack game improving over the third and fourth sets, the Maccabees were limited to just two kills to five errors in the fifth while the Valiants came back to life with a .211 percentage. Yeshiva took the first point on a Manhattanville attack error before kills from Gandarillas and Medrano with a Maccabee attack error put the Valiants up 3-1 to open up the fifth. The Valiants took three multi-point leads but Yeshiva hung around, keeping within one as the score moved to 6-5. Manhattanville would finally piece together the big run they needed, scoring six straight points to take a commanding 12-5 advantage. The momentum shift was enough for the Valiants to secure the win by scoring three of the final four points, winning the set 15-6 for their third five-set win of the season.

Up Next
Manhattanville hosts New Jersey City for the second and final meeting of the regular season between the two programs on Thursday night at 7 p.m.

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