PURCHASE, N.Y. – Getting the final taste of home tri-match action for the 2025 season, the Manhattanville University men's volleyball team dominated on the home court of Kennedy Gymnasium on Saturday afternoon, picking up a pair of Skyline Conference wins over Sarah Lawrence and Saint Joseph's Brooklyn. The Saturday sweep has the Valiants on a season-high three match winning streak as Manhattanville improves to 6-13 overall and 4-3 in conference play.

Match One Recap: Manhattanville 3, Sarah Lawrence 1 (25-18, 23-25, 25-13, 25-13)
The Valiants improved to 4-0 all-time against the Gryphons to open up the day's action, taking down Sarah Lawrence in four sets.

Kyle Simmons (Elmont, N.Y./Elmont Memorial) had himself a day, getting involved all over the floor in the team's first match. The freshman had 15 kills, just one shy of Emil Medrano's (San Cristobal, Republica Dominicana/HS for Environmental Studies) 16 for the team lead, while logging season-highs of six aces, eight digs and five blocks. Kylan Gretczko (Yonkers, N.Y./Yonkers) chipped in nine kills on the attack front.

Mason Moon (Rockport, Texas/Rockport-Fulton) and Matt Diamond (Hamburg, N.Y./Hamburg) led the defensive effort with 11 digs apiece. Moon tallied a double-double, his second in three matches, while handling lead setter duties with a season-high 45 assists, while Diamond was also strong at the service line with four aces. Evan Rapp (Bay Shore, N.Y./Bay Shore) handled the libero role in the opener with nine digs.

Using three Medrano kills and a pair of Gryphon attack errors, the Valiants opened play on a 5-1 run that Sarah Lawrence could not fight back against. The visitors inched back and closed the gap to a single point at 7-6 before another 5-1 Valiant run put Manhattanville up comfortably again. The Valiants held on after one last Gryphon burst brought Sarah Lawrence back within two at 15-13, using a third 5-1 spurt to pull away 20-14. Sarah Lawrence scored just one more point in the set while holding the serve before Medrano terminated 25-18 to give the Vals the opening set.

The Gryphons evened the match up at a set apiece as Manhattanville swung a match-low .125 in the second set. The Valiants took three of the opening four points and maintained the lead up to an 8-5 advantage where Sarah Lawrence notched three straight to tie things up at 8-8. A Gryphon service error temporarily put Manhattanville back in front before Sarah Lawrence scored three straight to take their first lead of the entire match at 11-9. The Valiants tied the score twice but struggled to get a sustained run going as the Gryphons built out a 21-16 lead. Manhattanville fought back with five of the next six to close the gap down to a single point at 22-21 and later at 24-23, but the Gryphons handled business with a Nate Davis kill to pull even with the 25-23 decision.

Sarah Lawrence's attack went quiet after the second set, swinging negative in each of the final two frames. The Valiants capitalized, using a 5-0 run to go up 7-3. After the Gryphons made it a one-point game at 8-7, another string of five straight Manhattanville points gave the home team some separation. Sarah Lawrence scored just one point while holding the serve over the rest of the set as the Valiants made quick work with a 25-13 win to reclaim the set advantage.

The Valiants dominated the fourth set, hitting .440 on 13 kills and just two errors to earn the win. Manhattanville broke a 3-3 tie with a 9-2 run to go up 12-5 and never looked back. The Gryphons never got closer than four points for the rest of the contest before the Valiants ended the match with five straight points as Simmons started the run with a kill before Gretczko notched back-to-back terminations. Simmons then earned the win with a pair of aces to closed out a second-straight 25-13 decision.

Match Two Recap: Manhattanville 3, Saint Joseph's Brooklyn 0 (25-17, 25-19, 25-22)
The Valiants completed the tri-match sweep by blanking Saint Joseph's Brooklyn for the team's third win over the Bears in as many tries to climb above .500 in conference play for the first time in 2025.

Medrano took point as the Valiants' leading playmaker with team-highs 17 kills, five aces and nine digs. The attack effort was complimented by Joe Gandarillas' (Farmingville, N.Y./Sachem HS East) nine in his three sets, while Jake Rothluebbers (Redondo Beach, Calif./Redondo Union High School) supplied five in his two frames of play and Simmons adding five in his lone set.

After Moon handled setting duties in the opener, it was Idris Idris' (Kassala, Sudan/JFK High School) time to shine in the finale with 35 of Manhattanville's 38 assists. The graduate student also finished amongst the leading defenders with eight digs.
Getting a rare match away from libero, Rapp got his first opportunities of his collegiate career at the service line with three aces.

After training the opening points, Manhattanville scored four straight to permanently take the lead. The Bears made it a one-score game at 8-7, but the visitors never got completely over the hump. A quick 5-1 run gave the Valiants some more breathing room and held the Bears without a run as the team built up a 20-11 lead. After Saint Joseph's got back withing five, a Gretczko kill, Medrano putaway and Rapp ace closed out Manhattanville's 25-17 win in the first set.

Following two quick ties, the Bears scored four straight to take a 6-2 lead in the second set. Saint Joseph's continued to lead up through 13-9, when Manhattanville roared to life with a nine-point run, flipping the script to jump ahead 18-13. The Bears had little response to the heavy blow, chipping back to within two before the Valiants ended on a 4-0 run to win 25-19.

The Valiants notched a match-high 17 kills in the third, and would ultimately need all of them to complete the sweep with the 25-22 win. Tied 4-4, the Valiants went on a 4-1 run to take the first substantial lead of the stanza. The Bears were able to cut off Manhattanville's runs and capitalized on Valiant mistakes to even up the score at 14-14. A 5-1 Valiant response run put the home side back in the lead for the final time, although the Bears did not go away easily. Saint Joseph's scored the next three points to make it a one point game before a kill from Gretczko and back-to-back putaways by Medrano regained separation. The Bears had one last gasp, going on a 4-1 run to make it a 23-22 game, but Medrano snuffed out any hopes at completing the comeback with two final kills to secure the win.

Up Next
The home stand continues on Tuesday as the Valiants compete in their lone action of Spring Break at 6 p.m., hosting Mount Saint Vincent.

VALIANTS on SOCIAL MEDIA For the latest on Manhattanville Athletics, follow the Valiants via social media on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Threads and YouTube. #WeAreValiant #GoValiants