How We Got Here
With the Skyline bidding farewell to Ramapo and New Jersey City as associate men's volleyball members at the conclusion of the 2025 season, the conference's postseason picture was restructured to a four-team playoff for the automatic berth into the NCAA Tournament. A year removed from their No. 4-No. 5 postseason matchup inside Kennedy Gym that saw the Valiants capture the program's first playoff win, both Manhattanville and Purchase saw their seeding improve when the dust settled at the conclusion of the 2026 regular season.

Manhattanville overcame a 1-8 start to the season to wrap up with a 10-13 overall record, going 9-5 in Skyline action to finish the year in third place and nab the No. 3 seed. The Valiants won five of their last six matches, the lone blemish being against top-seeded Saint Joseph's Long Island to close out the year, and dropped just one set across those wins.

The Valiants have benefitted from a three-headed attack monster of 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 providing more than 100 putaways this season. Despite missing close to a month away from action due to injury, Simmons has returned to the Valiant lineup with thunder, averaging a team-high 3.24 kills per set and reaching double-figures in three of his four matches back. Freshman Kolar is circling in on 200 kills in his first season of college, averaging 2.81 kills per set, while Gandarillas has continued to play a crucial role all over the floor with 2.45 kills per frame.

Defensively, Matt Diamond (Hamburg, N.Y./Hamburg) leads the way with a touch over two digs per set, having split primary libero duties this year with Evie Rapp (Bay Shore, N.Y./Bay Shore) who has added 1.5 digs per frame. On the setting side of things, Mason Moon (Rockport, Texas/Rockport-Fulton) and Pedro Machado (Vitoria da Conquista, Brazil/Colegio Oficina) have put up 280 assists each, with Moon leading the team's charge with 6.90 per set. While trailing behind his counterparts by nearly 140 assists, Luca Peterson (Boston, Mass./Newton North) has been extremely efficient in the setting game with 5.80 assists per set.

On the other side, Purchase locked down the No. 2 seed with conference victories over Old Westbury and Sarah Lawrence in the final week of the regular season to finish 10-4 in Skyline play and 12-13 overall. Like the Valiants, the Panthers found their footing in the second half of the season after starting the year 1-9 before conference action got underway.

The Panthers' attack trio of Hector Ruiz, Jael Martines and Udel Phillips averaged better than two kills per set this year, while Joey Toscano and Danny Kanner are supplying two digs per set across 90 frames of action each. Kanner has also been a one-man setting show for Purchase, entering the tourney with 718 assists and 7.98 per set.

Last Time Out
The teams split their regular season meetings, with the home team nabbing the win in both contests. Purchase took the Mar. 3 meeting in three sets before the Valiants got revenge on their home floor with a 3-1 win on the 25^th.

Postseason History
The Valiants hosted Purchase last year in the opening round of the 2025 Skyline Conference Championship for the first postseason meeting between the two. It was a straight three-set sweep for the fourth-seeded Valiants, with Simmons leading the way with 16 kills and nine digs.

Team Leaders
Manhattanville