PATCHOGUE, N.Y. – The history-making 2026 Manhattanville University men's volleyball season came to a close on Saturday morning as the third-seeded Valiants were defeated by No. 1 Saint Joseph's Long Island 3-0 in the Skyline Conference Championship Finals. The Valiants end their first season under Head Coach
Matt Jessen with an 11-14 record, making the first championship finals appearance in the program's three-year history.
Trevor Kolar (South Huntington, N.Y./Walt Whitman) closed out his strong rookie campaign as the kills leader on either side of the floor, logging 13 terminators. The All-Conference First Team selection ends the season with 218 kills, leading Manhattanville on the year with the fifth-highest single season total in the program's existence.
Joe Gandarillas (Farmingville, N.Y./Sachem HS East) and
Kyle Simmons (Elmont, N.Y./Elmont Memorial) finished with nine kills each in support of Kolar's leading effort. Simmons led the Valiants defensively alongside
Evie Rapp (Bay Shore, N.Y./Bay Shore), both logging 14 digs, while Kolar added 13 digs to end his year with his first collegiate double-double.
Mason Moon (Rockport, Texas/Rockport-Fulton) (20) and
Pedro Machado (Vitoria da Conquista, Brazil/Colegio Oficina) (16) supplied all but three of the Valiants' 39 assists.
The Golden Eagles began their march towards a fifth consecutive conference title by opening the match with five straight points, earning three of those by way of the block.
Adrian Bonilla (Guaynabo, Puerto Rico/Baldwin School of Puerto Rico) got the Valiants on the board with the team's first kill of the morning, with the Valiants getting back within striking distance with a three-point swing at 9-7. However, a service error gave momentum back on the other side of the floor as SJLI rattled off seven straight points to pull away 16-7. Manhattanville never got back closer than seven, ultimately dropping the frame 25-15.
The Valiants hit a match-high .158 in the second, but unfortunately for the visitors, the Golden Eagles also had their highest swing rate of the day at a .333 clip. The teams battled to ten different tied scores through the early going, with Manhattanville taking a narrow 12-11 advantage. The Golden Eagles tied things up on an attack error to begin a 5-1 run that proved to be the turning point. Manhattanville was able to stay within a pair before Saint Joseph's rattled off four straight points to pull ahead 22-19, thanks to three kills from AJ Esposito. Kolar and Bonilla accounted for the Valiants' final two points with a pair of kills, but the score was not in Manhattanville's favor as Chris Saricola delivered the set-winning kill at 25-18.
After trading points back and forth to a 6-6 tie to begin the third, Saint Joseph's went on a 6-1 run to jump in front, 12-7. Manhattanville would attempt to play catch-up the rest of the way, being held without a multi-point run until the 20-11 mark when the Valiants scored three-straight. Manhattanville made it a four-point game with a Kolar kill and a Golden Eagle attack error, but time ran out on a comeback bid as Saricola delivered the match-winning kill with the 25-20 third set decision.
Saint Joseph's advances to the NCAA Tournament as the Skyline Conference's automatic bid and will find out their first round destination and opponent on Monday.
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