Box Score
PHILADELPHIA – The Manhattan College volleyball team began its 2014 season in style on Friday with a 3-0 win over La Salle at Tom Gola Area. Sydney Volovski (Oswego, Ill.) pounded 12 kills and Anna Kitlar (Kiel, Germany) hit .562 in the Jaspers' (1-0) 25-16, 27-25, 25-19 victory over the host Explorers (0-1) in their first match of the La Salle Invitational.
In the first set, the Jaspers raced out to a 7-3 lead before La Salle rallied to tie the score at 8-8. However, Manhattan responded with an 11-3 rally, opening up a 19-11 advantage on back-to-back Volovski kills. The Explorers pulled within five at 21-16, but would get no closer, as the Jaspers took the last four points of the set. A kill by Jade Gray (Boise, Idaho) capped the 25-16 set win in which Manhattan hit .310 (12 kills, three errors, 29 attempts) as a team.
It was La Salle that got out to the good start in the second set. The Explorers led 10-3 before Marissa Behrens (Honolulu, Hawaii) smashed a kill to start a 4-0 rally that trimmed the deficit to three, 10-7. Manhattan eventually pulled even at 19-19, then took its first lead of the set, 20-19, on a Gray kill.
The Jaspers opened up a 23-21 advantage before La Salle won consecutive points to force a 23-23 deadlock. Kitlar slammed a kill on the next point to bring the Jaspers to set point. However, the Explorers won the next point to tie it, and they tied it again after Manhattan got another set point chance at 25-24. Malia McGuinness (Kailua, Hawaii) brought the Jaspers to set point once again at 26-25, and this time Manhattan converted, capturing the set by a 27-25 margin to take a 2-0 lead in the match.
La Salle scored the first two points of the third set, but Manhattan took nine of the next 12 to open up a 9-5 advantage. The Explorers got within one at 15-14 before a Volovski kill sparked an 8-3 rally that pushed the Jaspers' lead back to six points, 23-17. Manhattan reached match point at 24-19, and Teodora Peric (Chicago, Ill.) ended it with a service ace. The Jaspers took the third set, 25-19, to wrap up a 3-0 match win.
With the victory, Manhattan won its opener for the second straight year and the third time in four seasons. Head Coach Mark Jones also evened his career record at 80-80.
Volovski made just two errors in 25 attempts, hitting a solid .440. Kitlar, meanwhile, finished with nine kills and didn't commit an error in 16 swings. McGuinness added eight kills, while Gray had six kills on 10 errorless attempts to go along with 27 assists and eight digs. Allie Yamashiro (Kapolei, Hawaii) notched a match-high 15 digs and Sarah Haselhorst (Naperville, Ill.) contributed 14 digs, as the Jaspers outdug the Explorers 53-46. As a team, Manhattan hit .250 (42-12-112) in the match.
For La Salle, Kelly Perillo led the way with 11 kills. Michelle Healy posted 30 assists and nine digs, while Ashley Felton collected four blocks. Laura Kulhmeier paced the Explorers with 13 digs. La Salle hit .117 (36-22-120) as a team.
Manhattan returns to action with a pair of matches on Saturday. The Jaspers face NJIT (0-1) at 9 a.m., then conclude the tournament with a 4:30 p.m. matchup against Coppin State (1-0). The Eagles defeated the Highlanders in the first match of the tournament on Friday morning.