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RIVERDALE, N.Y. - On Sunday afternoon at Draddy Gymnasium, the Manhattan College volleyball team notched what was perhaps its most dramatic win of the season. The Lady Jaspers (11-11, 5-5 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference) trailed Iona (13-7, 7-3 MAAC) two sets-to-one before rallying to force a fifth set, then Kelsey Huntoon (Monroe, Mich.) served an ace on match point to complete the 24-26, 25-16, 13-25, 25-22, 16-14 comeback victory.
"I just tried to stay calm and obviously get the ball in bounds," Huntoon said. "I was hoping she (Iona's Madisyn Spence) would make a bad pass, but she didn't pass it at all and I got the ace."
"When you go into it, you have to be confident that you're going to serve an ace, and that's exactly what Kelsey did," Head Coach Mark Jones said. "We served the right player, and the result was an ace and a win for us. She's (Huntoon's) a great server and she's been doing that all year for us."
The back-and-forth first set featured 17 ties and eight lead changes. Manhattan jumped out to an early 3-1 lead before Iona rallied back to go in front 6-4. The Lady Jaspers regained the lead, 12-11, on a block by Brittany DeGagne (Penticton, B.C.) and Alexa Lampasona (Remensburg, N.Y.), then extended their advantage to 18-15. However, Iona responded with a 7-2 run to go back in front, 22-20. Manhattan rallied for the next three points, taking a 23-22 lead on a kill by Jaci Rahey (West Milford, N.J.). The Lady Jaspers reached set point at 24-23, but Iona won the next three points to claim the set by a 26-24 count.
Manhattan jumped out to an early 8-2 lead in the second set, prompting an Iona timeout. The Lady Jaspers extended their advantage to 13-4 before a 4-2 Iona run brought the Gaels within 15-8. Manhattan responded with three straight points to push its lead back to 10 at 18-8. A 6-3 Iona rally made it 21-14, but the Lady Jaspers scored four of the final six points to wrap up the set, 25-16, and even the match.
Iona scored the first three points of the third set, then used a 15-4 run to extend its advantage to 21-7. Manhattan rallied to make it 23-12 before Iona wrapped up the set, 25-13, to take a 2-1 lead in the match. The Gaels hit .389 in the frame, slamming 16 kills and committing just two errors in 36 swings.
The fourth set was another tight one, as there were 15 ties and the lead changed hands five times. Manhattan built a 14-12 cushion midway through the period before Iona responded with three straight points to take the lead. The Lady Jaspers went on a 3-0 rally of their own to go back in front, 17-15, but the Gaels countered with a 4-1 run to regain the lead, 19-18. With Iona leading 20-19, a Diane Strutner (San Jose, Calif.) kill ignited a 4-0 rally that gave the Lady Jaspers a 23-20 edge. Manhattan reached set point on a kill by Rahey, then Lampasona slammed one home to cap a 25-22 set win that sent the match into a final frame.
The fifth set was a classic, featuring 11 ties and three lead changes. Iona opened up the first two-point advantage for either side, taking an 8-6 lead into the side switch, but Manhattan immediately responded with three straight points to go in front 9-8. After a Rahey kill snapped an 11-11 tie, an ace by Aurore Kullak (Beloeil, Belgium) gave Manhattan a 13-11 lead. The Lady Jaspers reached match point when a kill by Huntoon made it 14-12, but Iona won the next two points to tie the score at 14-14. A service error by Iona's Rachel Whitten gave the Lady Jaspers their third match point, setting up Huntoon's ace that gave Manhattan the set, 16-14, and the come-from-behind win.
Overall, there were 44 ties and 17 lead changes in the five sets, and each team won a total of 103 points. It was Manhattan's third five-set victory of the season and snapped the Lady Jaspers' three-match losing streak against the Gaels.
Strutner had her first 20-20 effort of the season, posting a match-high 20 kills to go along with 20 digs. Rahey added a season-high 19 kills and Lampasona tallied 12 kills and three blocks. Huntoon notched 10 kills and three blocks to go along with her two aces. Jamie Collareta (Islip Terrace, N.Y.) recorded a double-double with 52 assists and 14 digs, while Julie Bies (Massapequa, N.Y.) had a match-high 30 digs for the Lady Jaspers. Manhattan hit .175 (62-27-200) as a team.
Colleen Genett recorded 14 kills and hit .382 for the Gaels. She also had four blocks. Whitten posted 14 kills on .345 hitting and added six blocks. Alicja Pawelec tallied 13 kills and Spence had a double-double with 11 kills and 11 digs. Alyssa Erickson just missed a double-double for Iona, notching 50 assists and seven digs to go along with three aces. Laura Fojanesi served four aces. Allison Nieters recorded a team-high 27 digs and Bethany Schornack notched 17 digs, as the Gaels outdug the Lady Jaspers 93-91. As a team, Iona hit .179 (63-29-190) in the match.
The Lady Jaspers return to action next weekend when they make their annual trip to Western New York. Manhattan visits Canisius (11-11, 7-3 MAAC) for the Griffs' "Dig Pink" match at 2 p.m. on Saturday, then take on defending MAAC champion Niagara (14-8, 9-1 MAAC) at 2 p.m. on Sunday. The Lady Jaspers fell to both teams earlier this season in Riverdale.
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