PURCHASE, N.Y. – The Manhattanville University men's volleyball team welcome Regis College and No. 11 Hobart College to Kennedy Gymnasium on Saturday for tri-match play. The Valiants took a set from Regis but were ultimately unable to snap their losing streak, dropping to 2-10 overall on the season following the pair of losses.
Match One Recap: Manhattanville 1, Regis 3 (18-25, 20-25, 27-25, 28-30)
The Valiants battled in the first match of the day, making the Regis Pride work for its four-set win as the last two sets went past the 25-point mark to determine a winner.
Emil Medrano (San Cristobal, Republica Dominicana/HS for Environmental Studies) and
Kyle Simmons (Elmont, N.Y./Elmont Memorial) led the Valiant attack effort with 13 and 10 kills in the opener. Simmons fell three digs shy of a double-double as he finished with seven, a total matched by
Mason Moon (Rockport, Texas/Rockport-Fulton). The defensive category was led by
Joe Gandarillas (Farmingville, N.Y./Sachem HS East) and his 14 digs, while
Evan Rapp (Bay Shore, N.Y./Bay Shore) dug out 11. Moon accounted for 25 of the Valiants' 35 assists, while
Idris Idris (Kassala, Sudan/JFK High School) added six in his lone set of play.
The Pride made short work of the opening set with a .357 attacking percentage, while the Valiants' six kills were countered by the team's six errors. The result was the most lopsided set of the affair, with Regis breaking things open on a 6-1 run to go up 9-5 and never trailing again leading up to the 25-18 win.
Manhattanville hit a match-high .083 in the second, but paled compared to Regis' .194 clip. Still, the Valiants fared better in the new stanza. The Pride led by as many as six at 14-8 before the Valiants roared back to even on an 8-2 run to 16-16. After two more tied scores, the Valiants fell victim to self-inflicted wounds as the Pride scored five straight off a Manhattanville service error and four straight attack errors. The Valiants could not overcome the miscues as Regis won 25-20.
The Valiants tallied 13 terminations to take the third set despite a .045 attack percentage. Regis went on a 9-2 run to claim a 10-6 advantage. The Pride would build the lead up to five before Manhattanville scored five-straight to even the score at 14-14. After four more tied scores, the Pride threatened for the sweep after a 7-2 run put the visitors up 24-20. A service error gave the Valiants new life as Medrano logged three straight kills before an attack error by the Pride suddenly put Manhattanville on set point. A service error evened things up again, but the Pride immediately gave back the serve with an error of their own before Medrano terminated to notch the 27-25 win.
Neither team hit particularly well in the fourth as both sides committed 11 errors in what would be the longest set of the day. The Pride tallied eight of nine points to go up 9-4, threatening to pull away early. Manhattanville nipped at Regis' heels and got back to within one on multiple occasions, but the Pride gained breathing room on a 4-0 run to go up 18-13. Regis continued to lead at 22-15 when Manhattanville woke up once more with eight of the next nine to make it a game again at 23-23. The teams traded the next ten rallies before the Pride final put an end to the marathon with a Brnadon Valdes kill and block to win 30-28.
Match Two Recap: Manhattanville 0, No. 11 Hobart (21-25, 20-25, 21-25)
After squaring off with Hobart team that ranked No. 10 in the nation a week ago up in Rochester, the Valiants hoped to have a better go around against the Statesmen now carrying a No. 11 ranking on their home court. While Manhattanville ultimately fell in three sets, the ability to hang with Hobart for much of play figures to serve as a building block as conference play starts next week.
Attacking came at a premium as the Valiants were limited to 24 kills. Medrano finished with eight, while Simmons added seven and Gandarillas provided six.
Kylan Gretczko (Yonkers, N.Y./Yonkers) was the only other Valiant to record putaways, earning the final three for the Valiants alongside his four total blocks. Idris, Rapp and Medrano had nine digs each, with Idris supplying 20 of the team's 22 assists.
After the Statesmen opened on an early 5-3 advantage, the Valiants collected the next five points to jump in front. The lead remained with the home team all the way up to an 18-16 score before Hobart went on a 5-0 run to complete the comeback in the set. A setting error snapped the Statesmens' run, but Hobart scored four of the next six to take the opening point, 25-21.
Manhattanville once again got an early lead in set two, breaking a 5-5 tie by scoring four straight. The lead remained with the Valiants up to a 12-10 score where the Statesmen pieced together a 6-1 run to go up 16-13. The Valiants would be held without a run for a while as Hobart built up to a 22-16 advantage. Manhattanville finally strung three-straight points together to make it a 22-19 game, but the Statesmen scored three of the next four to take the set 25-20.
Hobart broke open a back-and-forth start to the third with a 5-1 run that put the Statesmen up 14-12. The Valiants would only tie up the score once more as Hobart used a number of short spurts to move up to match point, earning the 25-21 win off Josh Reilly's kill.
Up Next
The Valiants head to Mahwah next Saturday to open Skyline Conference play, taking on Ramapo and New Jersey City starting at 11 a.m.
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