Riverdale, N.Y. (November 6, 2005)--In their final appearance at Draddy Gym, seniors Maggie Pfeifer and Megan O'Dorisio combined for 43 kills to help Manhattan Volleyball sweep past Iona College (30-23, 30-24, 30-18) in a crucial MAAC match on Sunday afternoon. With the victory the Lady Jaspers improve to 4-3 in conference play and significantly improved their chances of capturing one of the four available MAAC Tournament berths.
The four Manhattan seniors, who were honored before the match, were all a major part of the key victory, as the Lady Jaspers try to return to post-season play after a one-year hiatus.
Pfeifer continues to victimize opposing defenses, as the senior middle hitter pounded out 21 kills to go with a staggering .636 hitting percentage. O'Dorisio finished with a .421 attack percentage, which is her second-highest total of the season in that category, on her way to pounding out 22 kills. O'Dorisio is now only three kills shy of reaching the 1,000-kill milestone for her career.
Pfeifer, who eclipsed the 1,000-kill mark last season, entered the match with 1,497 for her career and fittingly recorded her 1,500th kill on Senior Day in front of her family.
Not to be forgotten are the efforts of seniors Lori Bambauer and Ashley Davis. Davis notched 13 digs on the afternoon to eclipse the 1,100-dig mark and raise her career total to 1,104. With 422 digs during the 2005 campaign, the senior libero has already surpassed her total of 419 from a season ago. Davis needs exactly 50 more digs to tie the Manhattan single season record of 472 set by Amy O'Dorisio, sister of Megan, in 2000.
Bambauer, who has dished out over 2,000 assists during her three seasons as a Lady Jasper, added 26 assists in the win to increase her 2005 total to 929. The senior setter posted 1,091 assists last season, which was good enough for seventh on the Manhattan single-season records list.
Junior Morgan Young led the Iona attack with 15 kills and a .462 hitting percentage. Young also notched two block assists, but the Gaels were significantly out-blocked by the Lady Jaspers by a tally of 9-4.5. Pfeifer and freshman Andrea Reiff led Manhattan with five block-assists apiece.
Bambauer, Davis, O'Dorisio, and Pfeifer were all a part of the Lady Jaspers' 2003 MAAC Championship squad that earned Manhattan's second consecutive NCAA Tournament berth. After not qualifying for the MAAC Tournament in 2004, the Lady Jaspers have hopes of earning a bid in 2005 to keep their dream of a return trip to the NCAA's alive.
Currently, however, Manhattan is in a logjam of four teams competing for the final two MAAC playoff s berths. Manhattan, Siena, Niagara, and Saint Peter's are all within one match of each other in the conference standings.
The Lady Jaspers make the final push for the post-season next weekend when they play two league matches. On Friday, Manhattan travels up Route 87 to take on Marist College at 7:00 p.m. On Sunday, the Lady J's close out regular season play at MAAC foe Siena College.