PURCHASE, N.Y. – The Valiants (18-7, 11-0 SKY) wrap up the 2025 regular season with the 3-1 senior day victory over Drew (9-22, 3-6 LANDMARK) on Saturday afternoon in Kennedy Gym.
Before the match, Manhattanville took time to recognize the program's four graduating seniors, all of whom have been contributors to the three-straight conference championship titles.
Starting us off was the Garden City South native, Samantha Andriola (Garden City South, N.Y./Sacred Heart Academy). Andriola transferred into the program in 2023; since her arrival, she has accumulated stats across the court. Offensively, Andriola has posted 219 kills and 79 aces, while defensively she has posted 314 digs. She comes in second on the leaderboard for assists with 272 just this year.
Next to walk was Emily Brown (Kaneohe, Hawaii/Damien Memorial). The Kaneohe, Hawaii, native has had a constant growing impact on the program since her freshman year. Finding herself in 302 sets played over the four years, she has marked up to 347 kills, 24 aces, and 70 digs. Throughout her senior year, she has put down 88 kills thus far with a career high 10 in today's victory to wrap up her senior regular season before heading back to her fourth consecutive postseason.
Rubi Gorospe (Seymour, Conn./New Rochelle), another Valiant to see the court all four years, has recorded a standout year during her senior season. With 55 sets played so far, she's stepped up defensively with 41 digs while also recording five aces, four service aces, and six in her career.
The final Valiant to walk the court tonight will graduate as the program's leading attacker. With her collegiate program record kills sitting at 1,248, Loren Hernandez (Toa Baja, Puerto Rico/American Military Academy) has made her mark on Manhattanville volleyball over her four years. In 364 sets played, in addition to the number of kills, she sits at a kills per set average of 3.43 recorded, while also recording 160 service aces and 961 digs in her career. The 2022 Skyline Rookie of the Year and 2024 Female Athlete of the Year, along with her other conference recognitions, returns to the postseason with her team this upcoming week.
The Valiants began the first set of the match, going on a 17-4 run with Andriola remaining at the back of the court for eight consecutive plays, recording three service aces in that time. As the home team pulled further out towards grabbing set one, Hernandez recorded three kills before a service ace from Kayla Jennings (Yorktown Heights, N.Y./Lakeland) and a kill from Andriola secured the set 25-16.
Set two was an even match, going back and forth between the two teams within two points until Drew pulled out 12-10. After the initial lead, the Vals pushed back to pull ahead 14-12 before the consecutive sets brought the score back to an even 15. On set-point for the visitors, the Valiants battled back to grab set two 27-25.
Using momentum rolled over from set two, the back-and-forth sets carried over with the Rangers evening it out at 11 before going on a 5-2 run to place the score at 16-13. The Valiants rallied late to push out 21-19 before the consecutive sets ended with the away team's first set of the night.
The final set of the match continued with the same rhythm. Kills from Hernandez and Brown put the home team up 3-1, setting a lead that would not be lost in the remainder of the set. The Valiants went on a 5-1 stretch to grab the widest lead of the set, 14-8, topped off with a kill from Hernandez. The regular season was wrapped with three kills, Hernandez, Caylin Caballero (Eastvale, Calif./Walnut), and Brown, to secure the final set 25-17, securing the 3-1 win.
UP NEXT – The Valiants head to postseason conference play with a first-round bye, set to face the champion of Sarah Lawrence at Farmingdale on Tuesday.
