PATCHOGUE, N.Y. – Meeting the three-time reigning Skyline champs for the first time this regular season, the Manhattanville University men's volleyball team was unable to halt the month-long winning streak of Saint Joseph's Long Island, falling to the Golden Eagles in three sets. The loss (14-25, 16-25, 12-25) drops the Valiants to 11-15 overall and 9-5 in the Skyline Conference, while the Golden Eagles remain perfect in conference play with their 16^th-straight win, climbing to 18-6 overall.

It has been a pair of matches to open the week that the Valiants would like to quickly move past, as the two teams atop the conference standings have caused headaches for Manhattanville over the past three days. After New Jersey City posted a .553 hitting percentage against the Valiants on Tuesday, the Golden Eagles outdid that effort by posting a .565 clip in Thursday's match, the highest attack percentage by a Manhattanville opponent this season. SJLI committed just four errors while logging 43 kills as the Valiants mustered a season-low 16 digs.

Manhattanville's offensive effort was highlighted by a nine kill outing by Joe Gandarillas (Farmingville, N.Y./Sachem HS East). Matt Diamond (Hamburg, N.Y./Hamburg) supplied six putaways while Kylan Gretczko (Yonkers, N.Y./Yonkers) added five.

With the Golden Eagles' efficiency in finding the floor on their attack attempts, Evan Rapp (Bay Shore, N.Y./Bay Shore) found the most success defensively with seven digs. Diamond, Kyle Simmons (Elmont, N.Y./Elmont Memorial) and Jake Rothluebbers (Redondo Beach, Calif./Redondo Union High School) accounted for Manhattanville's nine other digs, with each of the trio collecting three.

Mason Moon (Rockport, Texas/Rockport-Fulton) finished with 27 of Manattanville's 28 assists, with the lone other helper being provided by Rapp.

Saint Joseph's opened the match on a 3-0 run and never looked back in the opening frame. Manhattanville was limited to ten one-and-dones while in control of the serve, being held without a multi-point run until the Golden Eagles had built out a 20-10 advantage. The Valiants were able to generate a three-point spurt with kills from Gandarillas and Simmons sandwiching an SJLI attack error before the home side scored five of the next six to take to opening frame 25-14.

Manhattanville was able to go in front early in the second frame, scoring two quick points on a Gandarillas termination and an attacking miscue by the Golden Eagles. The Valiants remained in front up to a 12-9 score when Saint Joseph's tied things up for the first time off a three-point run. Diamond temporarily put the Valiants back in front, but the home side responded with eight-straight points to pull away. Manhattanville was held to three points over the remainder of the set before the Golden Eagles claimed the second set with a 25-16 final.

The Golden Eagles got better as the night went on, hitting an astronomical .692 in the third set to close out the sweep. Saint Joseph's collected 18 kills and did not commit a single error in what played out as the most lopsided score of the night. After trading serves to a 3-3 score, the Golden Eagles scored three straight to break the tie and secure the lead that would remain on their side of the court. The Valiants did not have any runs in the third set as Saint Joseph's was quick to grab control of the serve back every time it switched to the opposition. While SJLI's longest run of the set was just four points, Manhattanville could not respond with the limited opportunities holding the ball as the Golden Eagles remained atop the perch of the Skyline with a convincing 25-12 final set.

Up Next
Manhattanville looks to end the week on a high note as the Valiants compete in the final trimatch of the season. The Vals head back to Long Island on Saturday to take on Purchase and Old Westbury starting at 12 p.m.

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