PATCHOGUE, N.Y. – For the first time in program history, the Manhattanville University men's volleyball team is playing for a conference title. The third-seeded Valiants head south to Long Island for a meeting against No. 1 Saint Joseph's Long Island. The Golden Eagles are seeking its fifth-consecutive conference title, while Manhattanville looks to keep adding to its history in the program's third year, with a win on Saturday meaning both the first win ever against SJLI and the first piece of hardware.  
How We Got Here
The Valiants earned a postseason win for the second-straight year, making the trip up Anderson Hill Road on Wednesday and defeating No. 2 Purchase in four sets. Manhattanville improved to 2-0 against the Panthers in the postseason with the win in what was one of the best team performances by the Valiants this season. Manhattanville recorded a program-record 12 kills in the win, with Justin Lau (Queens, N.Y./Benjamin N. Cardozo) and Adrian Bonilla (Guaynabo, Puerto Rico/Baldwin School of Puerto Rico) providing five apiece. Offensively, Kyle Simmons (Elmont, N.Y./Elmont Memorial), Trevor Kolar (South Huntington, N.Y./Walt Whitman) and Joe Gandarillas (Farmingville, N.Y./Sachem HS East) all reached double-digit kill totals, with Kolar also leading the defensive effort with eight digs. Manhattanville was able to recover from a 25-19 opening set loss to win the next three, rolling past Purchase 25-17 in the second before winning a 29-27 marathon third and capturing the match victory with a 25-22 decision in the fourth.

The Golden Eagles carried their Skyline dominance into the postseason with a three-set sweep of No. 4 Saint Joseph's Brooklyn in the other semifinal. SJLI notched the 200^th win in program history with the victory, and with one more will be dancing in the NCAA Tournament for a fifth-consecutive season. Led by Bill Kropp, who earned Skyline Coach of the Year honors for a fifth year in a row, the Golden Eagles' six All-Conference selections were on full display in Wednesday's win. Skyline Player of the Year AJ Esposito led Saint Joseph's with 12 kills, while Libero of the Year Connor Ruais supplied 12 digs.

Saint Joseph's dropped just one set against Skyline opposition all season, all the way back on February 25 in their conference-opening tilt against Mount Saint Vincent. After dropping set two against the Dolphins, it's been 44 sets up, 44 sets down with Golden Eagle wins against their Skyline rivals.

Last Time Out
The Valiants were victims of two of those 3-0 sweeps by Saint Joseph's during the regular season, not having to look too far back to scout the Golden Eagles. SJLI was in Kennedy Gymnasium a week ago to close out the regular season, defeating the Valiants 25-19, 25-15, 25-19 as the Valiants fell to 0-7 all-time against the Golden Eagles. Kolar had 12 kills to lead Manhattanville, while Simmons' eight digs and Masson Moon's 23 assists paced the Valiants. On the other side of the floor, Saint Joseph's was led by 10 kills and 12 digs from Chris Saricola, and 38 assists via Dominic Ruggiero.

Postseason History
The teams met in Patchogue a year and a day ago in the 2025 Skyline semifinals. The Golden Eagles swung .487 and rolled to a three-set sweep, 25-15, 25-7, 25-15. Simmons supplied eight kills, a pair of assists and Manhattanville's lone ace of the loss, with Moon handling setting duties with 20 assists and Evie Rapp (Bay Shore, N.Y./Bay Shore) leading defensively with 10 digs.

Team Leaders
Manhattanville

• Kills Per Set: Simmons (3.29), Kolar (2.85), Gandarillas (2.47)
• Assists Per Set: Moon (6.87), Peterson (5.80), Machado (4.55)
• Digs Per Set: Diamond (2.06), Simmons (1.91), Kolar (1.61)
• Service Aces: Machado (26), Kolar (26), Gandarillas (20)
• Blocks: Lau (50), Bonilla (41), Simmons (30)

Saint Joseph's Long Island

• Kills Per Set: Esposito (2.74), Mischler (2.69), Kerns (2.57)
• Assists Per Set: Ruggiero (9.68), Ruais (0.54), Mischler (0.22)
• Digs Per Set: Ruais (2.93), Sarnicola (2.91), Kerns (2.35)
• Service Aces: Kerns (18), Ruggiero (17), Mischler (15)
• Blocks: Esposito (41), Mischler (36), Meyer (36)

History

• All-Time Record vs Saint Joseph's Long Island: 0-7
• Streak: L7
• Series Record at Saint Joseph's Long Island: 0-3
• Last Five Matchups (Home team listed second):
  • 4/3/26: SJLI 3, Manhattanville 0
  • 3/11/26: Manhattanville 0, SJLI 3
  • 4/10/25: Manhattanville 0, SJLI 3 (Skyline Semifinal)
  • 3/31/25: SJLI 3, Manhattanville 0
  • 3/27/25: Manhattanville 0, SJLI 3

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