PATCHOGUE, N.Y. – The Manhattanville University men's volleyball team's sophomore season concluded on Thursday night with the Valiants' three-set loss to top-seeded Saint Joseph's Long Island in the Skyline Conference Championship semifinals. Manhattanville ends the year with a 15-17 overall record with the loss.
Kyle Simmons (Elmont, N.Y./Elmont Memorial) was Manhattanville's leading attacker with eight kills, ending his rookie season with 304 putaways for a new program single-season record.
Joe Gandarillas (Farmingville, N.Y./Sachem HS East) added six kills while the trio of
Luis Granados (Pasadena, Calif./St. Francis),
Jake Rothluebbers (Redondo Beach, Calif./Redondo Union High School) and
Kylan Gretczko (Yonkers, N.Y./Yonkers) each had three.
Evan Rapp (Bay Shore, N.Y./Bay Shore) wrapped his Libero of the Year campaign with ten digs to lead Manhattanville's defensive effort. The rookie finishes his year with 262 total digs, leading the team for the year. Gandarillas and
Mason Moon (Rockport, Texas/Rockport-Fulton) added seven digs each.
Moon also provided 20 of the Valiants' 24 total assists.
Manhattanville set out on the night looking to do something that no Skyline team had been able to accomplish all season: take down the back-to-back-to-back conference champs. Saint Joseph's dropped just two sets in the regular season against the conference, continuing to assert themselves as the premiere squad in the Skyline. The Golden Eagles caused frustration for the Valiants all night long as Manhattanville's .010 attack percentage was the team's second-lowest of the season. SJLI hit .556 in the opening frame compared to Manhattanville's .029 clip. After the Valiants took a 3-1 lead to begin the night, the Golen Eagles scored 10 straight points to go in front. Manhattanville would be held without a multi-point run up to a 21-11 score when the Valiants were able to log back-to-back kills from Simmons and Granados ahead of a Simmons ace. The Golden Eagles snatched four of the final five points to take the opening set, 25-15.
Saint Joseph's continued stellar hitting, recording ten kills without committing an attack error in set two. The Valiants, conversely, hit -.179, logging five kills to 12 errors. The Golden Eagles scored the first four points and never looked back with Manhattanville unable to score any points while controlling the serve. Saint Joseph's made short work, taking the second set 25-7 to knock on the door of marking another appearance in the Skyline Championship finals.
Manhattanville had its best performance of the night in the third set, hitting .259, but simply could not match up to the Golden Eagles' attack effort. Saint Joseph's hit .419 and had 15 kills with just two errors in what would be the final set. The teams battled to nine separate tied scored before a 10-10 mark where Saint Joseph's earned a pair of points on back-to-back kills by Skyline Player of the Year Luke MacPherson. The lead never left the Golden Eagles' hands from that point on. The Valiants got back within a single point twice, but Saint Joseph's went on a 7-0 run that would put the game out of reach. The home side ended the night on a 3-0 run, winning the third set 25-15 to set up a Saturday afternoon title match against New Jersey City.
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