PURCHASE, N.Y. – The 2025 Manhattanville University women's volleyball campaign got off to a strong start on Saturday as the Valiants took down Western Connecticut State University in a straight three-set sweep inside Kennedy Gymnasium.
Head Coach
Matt Jessen picked up the victory (25-23, 25-13, 25-18) in his coaching debut for the Valiants, making it four straight years Manhattanville has emerged victorious in a season-opener.
Manhattanville got a leading performance out of senior
Loren Hernandez (Toa Baja, Puerto Rico/American Military Academy) who opened up the new season how she always has during her tenure with the Valiants. Hernandez led the Manhattanville attack with 16 kills and opened the year with a double-double, adding 10 digs on the defensive end. Her offensive effort was complimented by
Caylin Caballero (Eastvale, Calif.), with the freshman making an immediate impact with 13 kills in her debut.
Samantha Andriola (Garden City South, N.Y./Sacred Heart Academy) and
Alana Rivera Torres (Guaynabo, Puerto Rico/Colegio Marista de Guaynabo) continued to provide the two-headed setting effort that found success in 2024, combining for 38 of the team's 42 assists. Andriola led all players on both sides of the floor with 22 assists, with Rivera Torres adding 16. Four other Valiants—Caballero,
Dominique Sanchez (Colchester, Conn.),
Amelia Morrison (Avon, Conn.) and
Izzy Mojica (Tolland, Conn.)—added an assist each.
Taking the reigns as the Valiants' starting libero, junior
Kayla Jennings (Yorktown Heights, N.Y./Lakeland) shined in the season opener, leading all players with 23 digs. The defensive effort marked a new career high for Jennings, surpassing her 20-dig effort from her freshman season against Simmons in 2023. Rivera Torres also provided six scoops on the defensive side.
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The match began with a far from ideal start for Manhattanville as the Valiants saw WestConn notch five straight points to open play. An early timeout allowed the home team to recoup from the opening blow as the Valiants eventually brought the score even at 8-8. The remainder of the opening frame was an evenly matched bout, with neither side holding a lead larger than three points. Trading jabs back and forth, WestConn seized momentum again on the heels of a 4-0 run that put the Wolves up 21-18. The Valiants responded with six of the next seven points to flip the script and reach set point at 24-22. A Manhattanville service error kept the Wolves alive momentarily, but Hernandez put the capper on the opening set with a kill to put the Valiants on the board with a 25-23 victory.
After the rocky start, the Valiants came out with a match-high .464 attacking percentage to make quick work of set two with a 25-13 win. Manhattanville opened on a 4-0 run of its own and never looked back, holding a multipoint lead for the whole of the frame. Another four-point run by Manhattanville put the home side comfortably up 10-4. From there, the Valiants inched towards set point, using one final five-point burst to reach set point ahead of another Hernandez termination to close out the 25-13 win.
While they weren't quite able to match the lights-out pace of set two, the Valiants limited WestConn rto a match-low .057 attack percentage to close out the sweep. Tied 3-3, a five-point run fueled by Jennings on the service line spotted the Valiants a lead the team never relinquished. The big blow came on Manhattanville's next control of the serve, as Sanchez piloted an 11-point run on the serve line with a pair of aces. Leading 19-6, the Valiants withstood a 6-0 WestConn run to ultimately close out the win on freshman
Kaiel Maynor's (Newark, N.J.) third kill of the affair, 25-18.
Up Next
The Valiants hit the road on Friday for the start of three matches in Brockport. Manhattanville opens up play at the Brockport Invitational against host SUNY Brockport at 5 p.m. ahead of trimatch play on Saturday against Hilbert and Morrisville.
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