RIVERDALE, N.Y. - On Saturday afternoon, the Manhattan College volleyball team played host to defending Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) champion Niagara. And the Lady Jaspers ran into a hot Niagara offense. The Purple Eagles (9-8, 4-1 MAAC) hit a scorching .586 (18 kills, one error, 29 attempts) in the first set and an impressive .380 (46-11-92) in the match en route to a 25-12, 25-18, 25-18 victory over the Lady Jaspers (7-9, 2-3 MAAC) at Draddy Gymnasium.
"Niagara's a good team. You can't take anything away from them," Head Coach Mark Jones said. "I think we're going to learn from this and we need to make better adjustments when we play Niagara next time."
The first set was tight early before Niagara used a 5-1 run to turn a 5-4 lead into a 10-5 advantage. After the Purple Eagles extended their lead to 14-6, the sides traded the next eight points, and a kill by Jaci Rahey (West Milford, N.J.) trimmed Manhattan's deficit to seven, 17-10. However, Niagara rallied for the next six points to push its advantage to 23-10. The Lady Jaspers scored the next two points before the Purple Eagles finished off the set, 25-12.
Manhattan got off to a good start in the second set, jumping out to a 5-1 lead. However, Niagara responded with a 10-3 run to go in front 11-8. The Lady Jaspers rallied for the next three points to tie the score at 11-11, but a 4-1 Niagara run put the Purple Eagles in front for good, 15-12. After Manhattan got within 16-15, Niagara used an 8-1 rally to reach set point, and the Purple Eagles took the set by a 25-18 margin to take a 2-0 lead in the match.
Neither side was able to establish an advantage in the third set until a 4-0 Manhattan rally, sparked by consecutive blocks by Brittany DeGagne (Penticton, B.C) (the second with Alexa Lampasona (Remensburg, N.Y.)), gave the Lady Jaspers a 10-8 lead. Niagara responded with a 4-0 run of its own to go ahead 12-10, but Manhattan battled back to take a 15-14 edge. The Purple Eagles scored the next point to tie the score, and that ignited a 10-2 Niagara rally that got the Purple Eagles to match point. Niagara won the set 25-18 to close out the victory.
Diane Strutner (San Jose, Calif.) and Rahey each posted seven kills to lead Manhattan. Rahey also had two solo blocks. DeGagne made her first start for the Lady Jaspers, and she tallied three kills on .286 hitting to go along with a pair of blocks. Jamie Collareta (Islip Terrace, N.Y.) dished out 11 assists and Jackie Aldrich (Westhampton Beach, N.Y.) added seven assists and four digs. Julie Bies (Massapequa, N.Y.) recorded a team-high 10 digs. Overall, Manhattan hit .097 (24-15-93) as a team.
Hannah Hedrick pounded a match-high 13 kills on .440 hitting, while Amanda Wilken had nine kills and hit .533 for the Purple Eagles. Kari Honomichl tallied eight kills to go along with three service aces and Kathy Bibler recorded seven kills on .357 hitting. Michelle James distributed 39 assists, while Sam Morgan registered a match-high 12 digs, as the Purple Eagles outdug the Lady Jaspers 43-28.
After winning six in a row, Manhattan has now dropped four straight. The Lady Jaspers are home again on Sunday, when Canisius (8-9, 4-1 MAAC) visits Draddy Gymnasium for a 2 p.m. matchup. The Griffs suffered their first MAAC loss of the season on Saturday, falling to Saint Peter's in four sets.
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