PURCHASE, N.Y. – Alana Rivera Torres (Guaynabo, Puerto Rico/Colegio Marista de Guaynabo) became the eighth player in Manhattanville University women's volleyball program history to reach 1,000 career assists on Wednesday night, helping steer the attack as the Valiants swept Saint Joseph's Long Island in three sets. Manhattanville improves to 8-7 overall and 2-0 in conference play with the win, the Valiants' 37
th-straight conference victory.
Rivera Torres accounted for 37 of Manhattanville's 45 assists on the night, entering play needing 14 sets to reach the 1K mark. She would join the illustrious club in the opening frame, providing 17 assists to begin the night. Rivera Torres becomes the first Valiant to reach 1,000 assists since Vianca Vital eclipsed the mark her sophomore season in 2021 en route to her program-record 3,368 set in 2023. The junior Rivera Torres now turns her attention towards climbing up the record book with her career mark now standing at 1,023, just 23 shy of Teresa Skarulis '92 for seventh all-time.
Benefitting from Rivera Torres' performance were the outside duo of
Loren Hernandez (Toa Baja, Puerto Rico/American Military Academy) and
Caylin Caballero (Eastvale, Calif./Walnut). The Valiants' dual-headed attack threat finished with 13 kills apiece, while Caballero's rookie classmate
Cassidy Fallon (Brewster, N.Y./Brewster) also put up a solid performance with nine terminations, her highest total in her last six outings.
Kaiel Maynor (Newark, N.J./Science Park) and
Emily Brown (Kaneohe, Hawaii/Damien Memorial) would finish with five kills apiece.
Hernandez and Caballero were also heavily involved on the defensive end as the pairing each logged a double-double. Hernandez added a team-high 15 digs for her seventh double-double of her senior campaign, while Caballero's 13 digs brought her to five on the year.
Kayla Jennings (Yorktown Heights, N.Y./Lakeland) matched Caballero's total as she continues to lead the Valiants with 278 digs on the year.
Entering the night as two of the final three teams remaining perfect in conference play, the Valiants handed the Golden Eagles their first Skyline loss with a .296 hitting percentage, the team's highest mark of the season since hitting .307 in the season opening win over WestConn on Aug. 30. Manhattanville came out swinging, firing .462 in the opening set with 21 kills. Brown, Hernandez and Maynor opened the match with three-straight kills to spot the Valiants an early lead. The advantage never left the hands of Manhattanville, as Saint Joseph's was only able to pull within a single point once at a 4-3 deficit. The Valiants limited SJLI's opportunities while holding the serve, holding the Golden Eagles to a set-high run of three. The Golden Eagles fired one last gasp to make it a five-point deficit with the 3-0 run, but kills by Hernandez and
Izzy Mojica (Tolland, Conn./The Woodstock Academy) capped off the 25-18 opener.
Manhattanville's attack would not quite be able to match the superb numbers from set one, but the offense continued to strike. The Golden Eagles took a 9-6 lead on the heels of four unanswered points before the Valiants went on an 8-3 run to close the gap and jump back in front, 14-12. After SJLI responded with another three-point string, the Valiants delivered the big blow with six straight points. After a pair of Golden Eagle points, Manhattanville had another five-point run in their pocket thanks to a pair of Caballero kills and a Jennings ace to captures the 25-17 set winner.
Facing the three-set loss, Saint Joseph's refused to roll over as the visitors forced breaker points in the third set. The Golden Eagles opened on a 5-2 run and held the lead until a 10-10 tie. After seven more tied scores, the teams met at a 24-24 stalemate. The sides continued to trade blows with SJLI extending the night with the Valiants on match point with Isabella Juliano's kill making it 25-25. An attack error by the visitors once again put the Valiants on the brink of victory before Fallon delivered the match-winning rejection with her second block of the night, completing the sweep with a 27-25 final.
Up Next
The Valiants continue conference play on Saturday afternoon at Saint Joseph's Brooklyn at 1 p.m.
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