ROCHESTER, N.Y. – Closing out a three-match weekend, the Manhattanville University men's volleyball team fell victim to a pair of sweeps against Endicott and Nazareth on Saturday. The Valiants have now dropped five-straight matches, falling to 2-8 overall on the season.

Match One Recap: Manhattanville 0, Endicott College 3 (15-25, 25-27, 20-25)
The Vals opened the day with a neutral-site matchup against the Gulls on the floor of Robert A. Kidera Gym on the campus of Nazareth. A pair of teams looking to begin a climb back to .500, Endicott improved to 4-7 on the year with a three-set sweep.

Kyle Simmons (Elmont, N.Y./Elmont Memorial) posted a team-leading 10 kills as the Valiants sported a .158 hitting percentage. Emil Medrano (San Cristobal, Republica Dominicana/HS for Environmental Studies) had eight kills with Joe Gandarillas (Farmingville, N.Y./Sachem HS East) adding six. Simmons and Gandarillas also picked up the team's only two aces in the match.

Medrano's 14 digs served as a match-high, with Matt Diamond (Hamburg, N.Y./Hamburg) joining him in double-figures with 11. Mason Moon (Rockport, Texas/Rockport-Fulton) accounted for 26 of Manhattanville's 29 assists.

After a pair of tied scores opened the first set, the Gulls pulled away from a 4-4 tie with a 5-1 run to go up 9-5. Manhattanville did not have a run larger than two points over the duration of the stanza as Endicott swung to a .355 mark to make quick work in the frame, 25-15.

It was a much stronger showing by Manhattanville in the second set as the Valiants posted a better hitting percentage than the opposition, .238 to .159. The result was a stanza featuring 14 separate tied scores. As both sides jockeyed for a lead, the Valiants looked to have finally gained the upper hand off a 6-2 run that gave Manhattanville a set-high four-point lead at 19-15. The Gulls were able to rebound by rattling off five of the next six to even up the set at 20 points apiece. The back-and-forth continued to 25-25 when the Gulls were able to complete the comeback off back-to-back kills by Luke Madson, 27-25.

The Valiants matched pace with Endicott through the first 14 rallies to a 7-7 score, but the Gulls won the next three points to seize the lead for good. Manhattanville closed the distance to a two-point deficit twice but good not piece together any runs larger than two points as Endicott went on to take the win, 25-20.

Match Two Recap: Manhattanville 0, Nazareth 3 (11-25, 16-25, 6-25)
Manhattanville was then tasked with taking on the Golden Flyers on their home floor. The Valiants struggled to get anything going against Nazareth, hitting a season-low -.049 in the loss.

Medrano was the only Valiant to find a modicum of success for the Manhattanville attack, accounting for seven of the team's 11 total kills. Kylan Gretczko (Yonkers, N.Y./Yonkers) was the only other player to log multiple kills, finishing with two.

With the attempts few and far between, the Valiant setters were similarly quiet with 11 assists. Idris Idris (Kassala, Sudan/JFK High School) provided six, while Moon added four and Gandarillas supplied the final.

Defensively, libero Evan Rapp (Bay Shore, N.Y./Bay Shore) finished with eight digs to lead the Valiants. Gretczko also made some plays at the net with a pair of blocks.

Nazareth was off and running early, scoring seven of the first eight points. The Valiants were unable to record a single kill in the stanza. Manhattanville got a block from Gretczko and an ace from Gandarillas, but the nine other points the Valiants recorded were results of Nazareth errors. Effectively shutting down the Manhattanville attack, Naz took the opener 25-11.

The Valiants broke into the kill column on the second rally of the second set as Medrano terminated a ball from Idris. While the attack was not completely silence, Manhattanville's runs were once again capped at a maximum of two points. Nazareth broke the set open with a 5-0 run to take a 17-8 lead en route to the 25-16 win.

The Golden Flyers hung nine-straight points on the board early in the third to take a commanding 13-2 lead. Manhattanville could not muster a response, falling 25-6 to suffer the loss.

Up Next
The Valiants hope a homecoming will serve better fortunes as Manhattanville plays host to Regis and Hobart on Feb. 15 for tri-match play starting at 11 a.m.

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