RIVERDALE, N.Y. - The Manhattan College volleyball team completed its first run through the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) double round-robin slate when Marist paid a visit to Draddy Gymnasium on Saturday afternoon. Both teams entered the contest looking to pull above .500 for the season, and each was looking to extend a three-match winning streak. Unfortunately, it was Marist's winning streak that continued, as the Red Foxes (11-10, 6-3 MAAC) notched a 25-23, 25-21, 16-25, 25-23 victory over the Lady Jaspers (10-11, 4-5 MAAC).
Manhattan had trouble with Marist's serving all afternoon, and a 5-0 Marist rally marked by three Leeann Harridsleff service aces gave the Red Foxes a 7-3 lead early in the first set. Manhattan battled back, however, and the Lady Jaspers tied the score at 13-13 on back-to-back kills from Alexa Lampasona (Remensburg, N.Y.). Marist went back in front 19-15, but Manhattan again stromed back, pulling within two at 23-21. The Red Foxes won the next point to reach set point, but Manhattan claimed the next two to get back within one, 24-23. On its third opportunity, Marist closed out a 25-23 first set win.
In the second set, Marist again used strong serving to take an early lead. Lindsey Schmid served three aces during a 5-0 run that turned a 5-5 deadlock into a 10-5 Marist lead. With the Red Foxes leading 17-11, a Jamie Collareta (Islip Terrace, N.Y.) kill sparked an 8-2 Manhattan rally that tied the score at 19-19. However, Marist scored six of the final eight points to capture the second set, 25-21, and take a 2-0 lead in the match.
Following the 10-minute intermission between the second and third sets, Manhattan came out on fire, jumping out to a 5-1 lead. Marist responded with a 4-1 rally to make it 6-5, but the Lady Jaspers scored the next three points to push their lead back to four, 9-5. After another Schmid ace pulled the Red Foxes within 10-8, Manhattan went on a 12-3 run to open up a 22-11 advantage. The Red Foxes scored the next four points to make it 22-15 before a Lampasona kill finished off a 25-16 set win for the Lady Jaspers. Manhattan made just two hitting errors in the set, hitting .286 (10 kills, 28 attempts), while Marist hit .024 (11-10-42).
The fourth set was a set of runs, as Manhattan jumped out to a 6-2 lead before a 4-1 Marist run brought the Red Foxes within one at 7-6. The Lady Jaspers answered that Marist rally with an 11-5 spurt of their own, increasing their advantage to 18-11. However, the Red Foxes responded with a 6-0 run that featured three more Schmid aces to once again get within one point, 18-17. Then it was Manhattan's turn to rally. The Lady Jaspers scored five of the next eight points to open up a 23-20 advantage that brought them within two points of extending the match. However, Marist scored the final five points, taking its first lead of the set at 24-23 before finishing off the match, 25-23.
"Marist is a very physical team, and we just had trouble with their jump serves," Head Coach Mark Jones said. "That was really the story of the match. They got on those three-, four-, five-point runs that we weren't able to counteract."
Diane Strutner (San Jose, Calif.) paced the Lady Jaspers with 14 kills. She also had eight digs and two solo blocks. Lampasona notched 12 kills on .357 hitting to go along with four blocks. Julie Bies (Massapequa, N.Y.) posted a team-high 15 digs and three aces, while Aurore Kullak (Beloeil, Belgium) added 13 digs. Collareta dished out 38 assists and added six digs. Overall, Manhattan hit .191 (41-16-131) in the match.
Grace Hill notched a double-double for Marist, posting a match-high 19 kills and 16 digs. Harridsleff added 11 kills, three aces and five blocks, while Schmid tallied nine kills on .333 hitting to go along with seven aces and six blocks. Audra Brady registered a double-double with 50 assists and 10 digs, and Emily Brosky posted a match-high 22 digs, as the Red Foxes outdug the Lady Jaspers 66-59. Marist had a total of 11 aces and hit .154 (57-32-162) as a team.
The Lady Jaspers conclude their three-match homestand on Sunday afternoon, when Iona (13-6, 7-2 MAAC) comes to Draddy Gymnasium for a 2 p.m. matchup. The Gaels, who beat Manhattan 3-1 on Sept. 26 in New Rochelle, are currently tied for second place in the MAAC. A live webcast of the match will be available on JasperVision at www.gojaspers.com.
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