NEW YORK, N.Y. – The Manhattanville University men's volleyball team extended its program-best winning streak up to eight on Sunday, picking up a pair of straight-set sweeps of Yeshiva and Mount Saint Vincent in a Skyline Conference trimatch. The Valiants improve to 11-13 overall with the victories and climb to 9-3 in the Skyline, moving into a tie for third place in the conference standings.

Match One Recap: Manhattanville 3, Yeshiva 0 (25-11, 25-17, 25-15)
Hitting .365 and serving 13 aces, the Valiants made quick work in the opening action of the day by taking down Yeshiva in three sets.

Luis Granados (Pasadena, Calif./St. Francis) and Joe Gandarillas (Farmingville, N.Y./Sachem HS East) finished with 11 kills each, while Justin Lau (Queens, N.Y./Benjamin N. Cardozo) added nine to pace the Valiants' attack effort. Manhattanville totaled 47 kills compared to just 12 by the Maccabees.

Mason Moon (Rockport, Texas/Rockport-Fulton) accounted for 39 of the teams' 42 assists while adding five digs, two kills, and a match-high four aces. Gandarillas and Kyle Simmons (Elmont, N.Y./Elmont Memorial) both added three aces from the back row.

Defensively, libero Evan Rapp (Bay Shore, N.Y./Bay Shore) dug out 10 balls, his tenth match this season in double-figures. Gandarillas' solid all-around effort also saw four digs by the sophomore.

A Gandarillas kill, a pair of aces by Moon, and a Yeshiva attack error got the Valiants out to a 4-0 lead that was never surrendered. Manhattanville soon after went on a four- and five-point run that put the Valiants in front 14-4. The Maccabees could only muster a two-point run over the remainder of the set as Manhattanville captured the 25-11 win on a four-point run capped by a pair of Simmons aces.

The Valiants continued to roll with a 7-0 run to begin set two as Gandarillas and Granados combined for six kills. Yeshiva never recovered from the opening blow, only getting as close as five points with their largest run capping at three points. The Valiants march towards set point with a number of two-point runs, earning the 25-17 win on a Gandarillas kill and ace.

Manhattanville scored the first three points of set three before the Maccabees evened the score at 4-4 for the first tie of the match. It was a short-lived stalemate as the Valiants got kills from Matt Diamond (Hamburg, N.Y./Hamburg) and Jake Rothluebers with a Granados ace to retake the lead that remained with Manhattanville for the remainder of play. Yeshiva scored just one point while holding the serve over the rest of the set, with the Vals earning the 25-15 win on a final 3-0 run with Rothluebbers notching the match-winning termination.

Match Two Recap: Manhattanville 3, UMSV 0 (25-19, 25-14, 25-23)
The Valiants completed the sweep of the day's action by taking down the Dolphins to take both regular season matchups against Mount Saint Vincent.

Simmons took the lead on the attack front in the finale, logging 13 kills. Gandarillas added nine putaways, while Kylan Gretczko (Yonkers, N.Y./Yonkers) finished with five.

Moon provided 26 assists along with two digs and another two aces. His ace total was only surpassed by Simmons and Grandos, who both served three.

Diamond totaled seven digs to lead Manhattanville's defensive performance, followed by six from Rapp and four apiece by Simmons and Granados.

The Valiants continued the trend of the day with a 4-0 run to begin the match. The Dolphins responded with four consecutive points of their own. Mount Saint Vincent went on to put Manhattanville in their first deficit of the day, using another four-point spurt to go up 10-8. The Dolphins remained in the lead up to a 13-11 advantage when the Valiants rattled off five straight points to go up 16-13. Mount Saint Vincent could not come up with a response, limited to runs of two points as the Valiants went on to take the 25-19 win.

Set two was the most dominant Valiant effort of the match as UMSV's attack could not generate any runs longer than two points. Limiting the Dolphins to a number of one-and-dones, Manhattanville's lead swelled to an eight-point advantage at 21-13. An attack error only temporarily stalled the Valiants, regaining the serve on a Granados kill to begin a set-winning 4-0 run to take the second frame 25-14 on a Moon ace.

The Dolphins made some adjustments during the set intermission, hitting a match-high .278 to make Manhattanville work for the sweep. UMSV jumped out to a 6-1 lead before the Valiants tied things up at 8-8. It was the first of 11 different ties to close out the match as neither side could gain much separation. With the Dolphins up 21-20, the Valiants put together the largest run of the frame since the 8-8 tie by rattling off three-straight points. The run was the difference maker, as Manhattanville maintained the two-point lead to win the match off a Dolphin attack error, 25-23.

Up Next
Manhattanville heads to New Jersey City on Tuesday for a 7 p.m. road tilt with the Gothic Knights.

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