UNION, N.J. – The Manhattanville University women's volleyball suffered its first shortcoming of the 2025 season on Thursday night, falling in a four-setter road match at Kean. The Valiants fall to 4-1 with the loss (23-25, 22-25, 25-22, 10-25).

The Valiants' leading attackers continued their strong starts to the season as Loren Hernandez (Toa Baja, Puerto Rico/American Military Academy) and Caylin Caballero (Eastvale, Calif./Walnut) each recorded 11 kills. The outside hitter tandem have both reached double-figure kills in all five matches to open up the season and surpassed 60 kills apiece on the year. Amelia Morrison (Avon, Conn./Avon) supplied a season-high eight kills, finishing as Manhattanville's third-highest attacker.

Hernandez nabbed her fourth double-double in five outings with 14 digs. The defensive output was matched by Alana Rivera Torres (Guaynabo, Puerto Rico/Colegio Marista de Guaynabo) and was only outdone by Kayla Jennings (Yorktown Heights, N.Y./Lakeland), with the junior libero finishing with 17 digs for the Valiants.

In addition to matching her season-high dig total, Rivera Torres also equaled her best assist total on the year with 21 of the Valiants' 40 helpers. Samantha Andriola (Garden City South, N.Y./Sacred Heart Academy) added nine, while Jennings chipped in with six more.

The first three sets were akin to the opening of last year's meeting between the two teams, a five-set thriller inside Kennedy Gymnasium that came down to the wire. Each of the opening three frames were decided by three or fewer points, with the hosting Cougars taking the first two, 25-23, 25-22, before the Valiants took set three, 25-22.

Kean looked to be running away with the first set following a 9-1 run that put the Cougars up 13-6. Manhattanville was able to prevent Kean from going on any further runs to get themselves back into the set, eventually scoring eight of nine points to pull back within a point at a 23-22 deficit. The Cougars held off the threat with two of the final three points to nab the opening set.

Set two was a tale of runs, with the Valiants scoring four straight before the Cougars rallied five unanswered points of their own to take a 6-5 lead. Kean soon after went on a 7-0 spurt to pull out to a 13-7 lead ahead of Manhattanville's five-point burst to make it a one point deficit again. The Valiants claimed the lead off the heels of four-straight to pull ahead 19-17, but the Cougars had one last punch to deliver, winning six straight rallies to take a 23-19 lead en route to the 25-22 win.

Despite a match-low .071 attack percentage in the third, the Valiants were able to secure their first set point of the night as Kean's attack also went cold with a .064 clip. The Valiants took a 14-10 advantage with a string of five-straight points which was in turn answer by Kean scoring five straight of their own. The back-and-forth continued to a 20-20 score, when a Kean service error began a 4-0 Manhattanville run to put the visitors on set point. The Cougars stayed alive for two more rallies following a pair of attack errors, but a kill from Hernandez got the Valiants on the board with a 25-22 third set.

The Cougars found something that worked as play entered the fourth, hitting a match-high .536 to make quick work of what proved to be the final set of the night. Kean jumped out to a 7-3 opening advantage, and while the Valiants were able to get back within two, the Cougars scored nine straight points to put Manhattanville in a deep 19-8 hole. The Valiants were limited to just two more points in the contest before the Cougars took the match-winner, 25-10.

Up Next
Trimatch action awaits in Kennedy Gymnasium on Saturday when the Valiants play host to William Paterson and Dickinson starting at 11 a.m.

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