Box Score
Box Score
RIVERDALE, N.Y. – With first place in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) on the line, the Manhattan College volleyball team played perhaps its best match of the season on Saturday afternoon. The Jaspers (16-9, 9-2 MAAC) avenged one of their two conference losses on the season with a 28-26, 25-19, 25-21 victory over Siena (10-12, 9-3 MAAC) at the College of Mount St. Vincent's Sharp Center. With the win, Manhattan moved into the top spot in the MAAC standings, one half-game ahead of both the Saints and Fairfield.
The match was moved to Mount St. Vincent because of a conflict at Draddy Gymnasium, but the Jaspers were perfectly comfortable at their home away from home.
“I think it's the approach,” Head Coach Mark Jones said about playing the home match off campus. “We came here ready to play and very focused. The whole thing's a mindset, and we did a great job today.”
It was a tight match from the start, as there were 17 ties and eight lead changes in the first set. Manhattan scored the first three points of the match, but Siena eventually opened up a 12-9 advantage. The Jaspers responded with a 5-1 run to take a 14-13 lead before the Saints took the next two points to go back in front. After Manhattan evened the score at 14-14, the back-and-forth play continued, as neither side would build a lead of more than two points the rest of the set.
Siena reached set point at 24-23 on a kill by Christina Monroe before Juliana Behrens (Honolulu, Hawaii) responded with a kill to knot it at 24-24. The Saints got to set point again at 25-24, but Manhattan fought off that opportunity on a block by Behrens and Teodora Peric (Chicago, Ill.). However, Siena's Meghann Wright followed with a kill to give the Saints their third set point chance. After the Jaspers tied it at 26-26, Manhattan finally earned its first set point on a kill by Anna Kitlar (Kiel, Germany). Siena setter Haley Howell then made contact with the net on the ensuing point, giving the set to Manhattan, 28-26.
Early in the second set, Siena broke a 5-5 tie on a kill and two service aces by Taylor Akana. Trailing 8-5, Malia McGuinness (Kailua, Hawaii) slammed a kill to start a 4-0 run that gave the Jaspers a 9-8 lead before the Saints rallied to go in front 15-13. Sydney Volovski (Oswego, Ill.) cut Manhattan's deficit to 15-14 with a kill, then Jade Gray (Boise, Idaho) served an ace to even the score. The Jaspers eventually opened up a 19-15 advantage after back-to-back Behrens kills, but Siena responded with a 4-1 spurt to get back within one, 20-19. However, Manhattan finished the set on a 4-0 run and capped a 25-19 win on a Volovski kill.
Manhattan took control of the third set early on, as a 6-0 run started by a Kitlar kill gave the Jaspers an 8-3 lead. The Jaspers eventually extended their advantage to 18-11 on a block by Behrens and McGuinness, but Siena won the next four points to pull within three, 18-15. Manhattan pushed the lead back to five at 22-17, and reached match point after Kitlar and Ellie Wiekamp (Laguna Niguel, Calif.) teamed up on a block to make it 24-19. Siena fought off two match points before Kitlar slammed home a kill to wrap up the set, 25-21, and the 3-0 sweep.
“What we needed to do was what we do best,” Jones said. “We passed well, we served tough, and we put up a more aggressive block. Overall, we did a great job in practice and (carried it into) the game.”
Volovski paced Manhattan with 11 kills on .348 hitting. Kitlar smashed nine kills without an error on 17 swings, hitting .529 in the victory. She added six digs, four blocks and two aces. Behrens tallied seven kills and three blocks, while Peric registered 33 assists and three blocks. Allie Yamashiro (Kapolei, Hawaii) recorded a match-high 19 digs for the Jaspers, who hit .183 (41-18-126) as a team.
Akana and Howell each had a double-double for Siena. Akana finished with 12 kills and 14 digs to go along with three aces, while Howell posted 32 assists, 11 digs and three blocks. Jacqueline Skeen recorded nine kills and four blocks, and Erin Bies collected 11 digs. As a team, Siena hit .093 (35-23-129) in the match.
The Jaspers will return to the Sharp Center on Sunday, when they take on Marist (13-8, 7-4 MAAC) at 6 p.m. Manhattan posted a 3-2 victory over the Red Foxes in Poughkeepsie on Sept. 21.
