Box Score
RIVERDALE, N.Y. ? For the first time in more than two years, the Manhattan College volleyball team (9-16, 8-7 MAAC) has won three consecutive matches. The Lady Jaspers moved above .500 in Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference play for the first time since Oct. 5 with a 25-16, 11-25, 25-18, 25-14 victory over Niagara (5-23, 3-13 MAAC) at Draddy Gymnasium on Saturday afternoon. The last time the Lady Jaspers won three in a row was from Oct. 20-27, 2006.
The Lady Jaspers came out swinging, jumping out to an 8-2 lead in the first set. After Manhattan extended its lead to 10-3, Niagara responded with a 7-2 run to get back within two at 12-10. Manhattan ended the rally with a kill by Jackie Kapovich (Downers Grove, Ill.) and an Alyssa Getzel (Richmond, Va.) service ace, which ignited a 10-2 Manhattan run that put the Lady Jaspers back in control, 22-12. Niagara rallied for four straight points to make it 22-16 before Manhattan scored the last three points of the set to claim an easy 25-16 win. Manhattan hit a solid .316 (15 kills, three errors, 38 attempts) in the opening set, while Niagara hit .000 (9-9-39).
With the second set tied at 3-3, Niagara went on a 9-1 run to take control. The Purple Eagles extended their advantage to 16-6 en route to a 25-11 set win. Niagara hit .368 (16-2-38) in the second set, while Manhattan hit just .031 (6-5-32).
Manhattan scored the first three points of the second set and ran the lead to 9-4 on a Sherryta Stokes (Beltsville, Md.) ace. However, Niagara battled back, going on a 7-1 run to take an 11-10 advantage. The sides traded the next five points until a Niagara service error, then back-to-back kills from Stokes and Jaci Rahey (West Milford, N.J.) put the Lady Jaspers back in front, 16-13. A kill by Niagara's Lauren Costello stopped the run before another Rahey kill ignited a 5-1 Manhattan run that increased the Lady Jaspers' lead to 21-15. Manhattan won the set, 25-18, to take a 2-1 lead in the match.
The Lady Jaspers have struggled to close out matches in four after taking a 2-1 lead all season, but that wasn't the case on Saturday. Separate runs of 5-0 and 4-0 early in the set gave the Lady Jaspers a 9-3 edge. Niagara climbed within 13-11 before the Lady Jaspers went on an 11-2 spurt to run their lead to 23-13. Kapovich's fifth kill of the match set up match point, and the Lady Jaspers closed out their first four-set win of season, 25-14, on Rahey's ace. Manhattan continued its solid hitting in the fourth set, hitting .306 (14-3-36).
Stokes slammed 19 kills and hit .344, committing just three errors in 44 attempts, and added 13 digs and three blocks for the Lady Jaspers. Rahey hit a stellar .458, pounding 11 kills in 24 errorless swings. Diane Strutner (San Jose, Calif.) posted a match-high 22 digs for Manhattan. Andrea Reiff (Hawthorne, N.Y.) added 15 digs, while Katie Kerbstat (Saddle River, N.J.) posted 10 digs, as the Lady Jaspers out-dug the Purple Eagles 74-68. Getzel tallied a double-double with 42 kills and 11 digs. As a team, Manhattan hit .247 (50-14-146) in the match.
Costello tallied 14 kills and hit .357 for Niagara. She added three blocks. Kathy Bibler posted 10 kills for the Purple Eagles. Sam Morgan and Michelle James each had a team-high 18 digs, while Morgan dished out 42 assists to complete a double-double. Hannah Hedrick registered 15 digs to go along with nine kills. Niagara hit .146 (49-25-164) as a team.
The Lady Jaspers continue their five-match homestand on Sunday with an 11 a.m. showdown against Canisius (16-9, 11-5 MAAC) at Draddy Gymnasium. The Golden Griffins, who fell in five sets at Iona on Saturday, defeated Manhattan 3-1 on Oct. 11.