Box Score
NIAGARA UNIVERSITY, N.Y. ? Behind its most solid offensive performance of the season, the Manhattan College volleyball team (5-12, 4-4 MAAC) swept Niagara (3-16, 1-7 MAAC) 25-20, 25-14, 25-22 at the Gallagher Center on Sunday afternoon to earn a split in its annual trip to the Buffalo area. The Lady Jaspers hit a season-high .346 (37 kills, 10 errors, 78 attempts) in the victory, which moved them back to .500 in Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference play.
Manhattan seized control of the first set immediately, scoring seven of the first eight points. The Purple Eagles used a 7-3 run of their own to pull within 10-8, but the Lady Jaspers responded with a 5-1 rally to bring the lead back to six at 15-9. Niagara didn't get any closer than five points the rest of the set. The Lady Jaspers earned their first set point when a Sherryta Stokes (Beltsville, Md.) kill made it 24-18, and finished off a 25-20 win on a kill by Andrea Reiff (Hawthorne, N.Y.). Manhattan hit .500 in the first set, smashing 14 kills and committing just two errors in 24 attempts.
The Purple Eagles scored the first two points of the second set and ran their lead to 7-5 before Manhattan rallied back to tie the score at 7-7. Niagara scored the next two points to go up 9-7, but the Lady Jaspers dominated the set from that point forward. The Lady Jaspers went on a 14-1 run, including a span of 11 consecutive points on Alyssa Getzel's (Richmond, Va.) serve, to take a 21-10 lead. A service ace by Katie Kerbstat (Saddle River, N.J.) capped the Lady Jaspers' 25-14 set win. Manhattan continued its stellar attacking in the second set, hitting .409 (12-3-22) to Niagara's .034 (8-7-29).
Niagara recovered early in the third set, scoring the first three points and eventually building a 9-2 lead. After a Manhattan timeout, the Lady Jaspers went on a 6-1 run to trim Niagara's lead to 10-8. A kill by Holly Allgeiger ran Niagara's advantage back to three before Manhattan went on a 7-1 run to go in front 15-12. The Purple Eagles tallied three straight points to even it up at 15-15, and the sides traded runs until it was 21-21. Three straight points gave Manhattan its first match point, and the Lady Jaspers put it away, 25-22, on their second opportunity when Stokes slammed her 13th kill of the match.
Stokes paced the Lady Jaspers with 13 kills on solid .323 hitting and added eight digs. Rita Welsh (Collegeville, Pa.) hit .615 in the match, tallying nine kills with just one error, and Jackie Kapovich (Downers Grove, Ill.) posted a hitting percentage of .455, slamming seven kills and committing only two errors in 11 swings. Getzel registered kills on her only two attack attempts, dished out 32 assists and notched three service aces. Diane Strutner (San Jose, Calif.) had a match-high 17 digs, as the Lady Jaspers out-dug the Purple Eagles 44-29.
Hannah Hedrick led the Purple Eagles with nine kills. Kathy Bibler had six kills and hit .385. Michelle James distributed 23 assists and Sam Morgan registered 11 digs for Niagara. The Purple Eagles hit .094 (32-22-106) as a team in the match.
Manhattan, which has split all four of its MAAC weekends this season, concludes its five-match road trip next Saturday with a 2 p.m. visit to Marist (8-13, 3-5 MAAC). The Lady Jaspers swept the Red Foxes in Riverdale on Oct. 4. Manhattan returns home next Sunday when three-time defending conference champion Siena (8-9, 6-2 MAAC), a 3-0 winner when the teams met in Albany, comes to Draddy Gymnasium for a 2 p.m. showdown.