MONTCLAIR, N.J. – The Manhattanville University women's volleyball team dropped its 2026 season opener on Tuesday night, falling in three-straight sets at Montclair State. The Valiants suffer a loss to begin a campaign for the first time since 2021 and will carry an 0-1 record into the weekend.
Making her collegiate debut,
Ava Callaghan (Chicago, Ill./Mother McAuley) led the Valiant attack with 11 kills. The freshman swung a team-high .219 on the night while also supplying seven digs.
Caylin Caballero (Eastvale, Calif./Walnut), coming off her 2025 Skyline Conference Rookie of the Year campaign, opened her sophomore season with seven kills, while
Aurea Obradors (Barcelona, Spain/Benjamin Franklin International School) supplied six.
Defensively, senior
Kayla Jennings (Yorktown Heights, N.Y./Lakeland) picked up right where she left off a season ago as the Valiants' primary libero. Jennings tallied 21 digs as she pushes her career total to an even 900. She was also the most successful Valiant on the service line, recording a pair of aces.
Caballero was the lone other Valiant in double figures defensively with 11 digs.
Alana Rivera Torres (Guaynabo, Puerto Rico/Colegio Marista de Guaynabo) handled primary setting duties with 18 of Manhattanville's 29 assists.
Eva Becerra (West Covina, Calif./Walnut) logged seven assists in her Manhattanville debut, with the junior adding three digs to her ledger.
The Valiants fell in each set by a final of 25-21. Manhattanville opened the year with a slow start, hitting -.030 in the first frame of the season. Despite the attacking woes, the Valiants were able to match up with the Red Hawks through most of the set. After nine separate tied scored, the Valiants took a 16-15 lead on a Montclair attack error. The home side was able to regroup following a timeout, rattling off the next five points. Manhattanville hung around and closed the gap to a one-point deficit at 22-21 following back-to-back Callaghan kills before Montclair took the opening point with three straight rally wins.
Montclair went on an early six-point run to open the second, jumping out to a 7-1 lead. The Valiants tried to play catchup the rest of the way, but could not make up all of the ground lost from the Red Hawks' opening barrage, ultimately falling 25-21 for a second-straight set.
Manhattanville hit a match-high .139 in the third, but the Red hawk attack also heated up with their best performance, swinging .294. Trailing 4-7, the Valiants capitalized on Montclair's errors to go on an 8-1 run to go in front 12-8. The run was fueled by three Red Hawk attack errors, a service error and a setting error while Jennings recorded both of her aces while Caballero provided a kill. The teams then traded runs, leading to an 18-18 stalemate.
Amelia Morrison (Avon, Conn./Avon) supplied a kill to begin a spurt of three-straight Valiant points, but the Red Hawks rattled off seven-straight points to roar back and complete the sweep with another 25-21 victory.
Up Next
The Valiants head to Rhode Island on Friday, opening a three-match weekend at 7 p.m. with a neutral-court matchup against Union College.
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