PURCHASE, N.Y. – Opening play on a new season, the Manhattanville University men's volleyball team was defeated by Curry College in four sets (14-25, 23-25, 25-21, 16-25) on Friday night.
Entering the first game under Head Coach
Matt Jessen, the Valiants were led by sophomore
Kyle Simmons (Elmont, N.Y./Elmont Memorial) who opened the campaign with a 13 kill, 10 dig double-double. Simmons added a pair of aces from the service line and aided on three block.
Joe Gandarillas (Farmingville, N.Y./Sachem HS East) and newcomer
Trevor Kolar (South Huntington, N.Y./Walt Whitman) finished behind Simons with eight kills each. Gandarillas entered his junior year second all-time in kills in the young history of the men's volleyball program, while Kolar got his career off to a solid start, adding six digs to his docket.
Suiting up as libero,
Matt Diamond (Hamburg, N.Y./Hamburg) finished second on the team with eight digs.
Pedro Machado (Vitoria da Conquista, Brazil/Colegio Oficina) funneled the offense with 34 of the team's 35 assists, with Diamond supplying the other helper.
Following the departure of Manhattanville's two leading middles from the past two season in
Luis Granados (Pasadena, Calif./St. Francis) and
Jake Rothluebbers (Redondo Beach, Calif./Redondo Union High School),
Adrian Bonilla (Guaynabo, Puerto Rico/Baldwin School of Puerto Rico) looked right at home as a netfront presence as the freshman logged six total blocks with a pair of kills. Three of Bonilla's rejections were solo efforts.
After a slow start that saw Manhattanville swing negative in the opening set compared to Curry's match-high .333 attack percentage, falling 25-14, the Valiants had a better showing in the second frame. A 4-0 run with kills from Kolar and Simmons with a pair of blocks from Bonilla gave Manhattanville an early advantage. The home team matched the Colonels stride for stride, continuing to hold the lead all the way to 21-19. A Valiant ball handling error opened the door for Curry, as the Colonels scored four straight points to take the lead for the first time since 1-0. A service error on both sides put Curry on set point, and while
Justin Lau (Queens, N.Y./Benjamin N. Cardozo) was able to extend the set by one volley with a kill, Chris Milfort delivered the final blow for Curry, winning 25-23.
The Valiants continued to improve, hitting a match-high .276 in the third with 14 kills. Trailing 6-3, Manhattanville had its best run of the night with six consecutive points with Simmons controlling the serve. The sophomore had a pair of aces in the run and provided two kills. Curry came back to take the lead at 14-13 before the sides battled to four tied scores leading to a 20-20 stalemate. Back-to-back Kolar kills gave the Valiants momentum in the march to set point, winning five of the final six points to nab the first set of the season, 25-21.
Manhattanville was unable to replicate the success in the fourth, dropping back into the negatives on the attack front. After a back-and-forth start, the Colonels pulled away on a 6-0 run to go up 12-7. The Valiants were unable to get back closer than three points as Curry went on to win the finale, 25-16.
Up Next
It's a short break for the Valiants as the team plays two tomorrow in the John Jay trimatch. Manhattanville's action begins at 1 p.m. with the neutral-court showdown with Wilkes ahead of play against the Bloodhounds.
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