PURCHASE, N.Y. – The Manhattanville College men's volleyball team fell in a three-setter to visiting New Jersey City University on Thursday night. The loss drops the Valiants to 9-13 overall with a 5-7 Skyline Conference mark.

The Gothic Knights demonstrated why they sit atop the conference standings, extending their winning streak up to 11 straight matches as they posted a eye-opening .529 hitting percentage in the win, collecting 40 kills to just four attack errors.

Wilton Martinez (Bronx, N.Y./Celia Cruz Bronx HS of Music) had 10 kills to lead the Valiant attack. He added five digs and a pair of aces at the service line. Emil Morban Medrano (San Cristobal, Republica Dominicana/HS for Environmental Studies) had five kills of his own while Joe Gandarillas (Farmingville, N.Y./Sachem HS East) followed with four.

Medrano and Gandarillas would also finish the night as the team's defensive leaders, adding nine and seven digs, respectively.

Pedro Barros Machado (Vitoria da Conquista, Brazil/Colegio Oficina) was back as the team's primary setter after battling through injury for more than a month. The freshman had 20 of the team's 25 assists, his first time reaching double-figures in the category since Feb. 14 against Sage. Idris Idris (Kassala, Sudan/JFK High School) added four assists while Medrano had the other Valiant helper.

NJCU scored six straight points to begin the first set and never looked back. The Valiants would not piece together a run until they trailed 14-3, when Manhattanville was able to get into a little rhythm with four straight featuring a pair of Martinez aces and kills by Gandarillas and Machado. Manhattanville was only able to piece together one more run in the set, a three-point string to moved the score to 18-12, but there was little slowing the Gothic Knights as they took the opening set 25-16.

The visiting team continued a dominant offensive effort, hitting .600 with 13 kills and just one error. After building up a 9-4 lead, NJCU scored eight straight points to put the set out of reach. Manhattanville scored just twice while in control of the serve as part of a 3-0 run to move the deficit to 20-9 before the Gothic Knights scored the next five to win the second-straight set.

Despite the 2-0 hole they found themselves in, the Valiants were able to hang around in the third set as they had their best offensive performance of the night, logging 10 kills to three errors. Manhattanville took a 3-1 opening lead in the set with a Machado ace, Medrano kill and NJCU attack error. The teams battled through four tied scored up to a 7-7 mark on the scoreboard, where the Gothic Knights ran off four straight to take an 11-7 lead they never relinquished. Still, the Valiants were able to keep within striking distance as they pulled back within two points multiple times as the set progressed. Another Medrano kill and Gothic Knight error pushed Manhattanville back to an 18-16 deficit, but that would be as close as the score would be as NJCU closed out the match on a 7-3 run to take the final set 25-19.

Up Next
More home court action awaits on Saturday as the Valiants host No. 14 Hobart for a noon match.

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