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RIVERDALE, N.Y. - On Sunday afternoon, the Manhattan College volleyball team made a statement with a 3-2 win over Siena that completed the first season sweep of the Saints in program history. The Lady Jaspers made another one on Saturday, posting a straight sets victory over four-time defending Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) regular season champion Fairfield at Draddy Gymnasium. Manhattan (15-13, 8-7 MAAC) dominated from the start, hitting .325 (33 kills, six errors, 83 attempts) as a team in the 25-18, 25-10, 25-12 triumph that snapped an 11-match losing streak against the Stags (10-17, 9-6 MAAC).
Manhattan built an early 3-1 lead in the first set, but Fairfield battled back to tie the score at 4-4. With the score tied at 5-5, the Lady Jaspers went on a 7-3 run to regain a 12-8 advantage. After a Kara Reis service ace brought the Stags within 12-10, a 5-0 Manhattan spurt pushed the Lady Jaspers' lead to 17-10. Fairfield scored six of the next eight points to get back within three, 19-16, but Manhattan ended the set on a 6-2 rally, and claimed a 25-18 win on a kill by Jaci Rahey (West Milford, N.J.).
In the second set, Julie Bies (Massapequa, N.Y.) began serving with the Lady Jaspers leading 2-1, and she didn't stop until Manhattan increased its advantage to 10-1. Fairfield won back-to-back points to make it 10-3, but the Lady Jaspers responded with an 8-2 run to extend their cushion to 18-5. LaKell Havens (St. George, Utah) slammed one down on Manhattan's second set point opportunity to close out a 25-10 triumph. The Lady Jaspers didn't commit a hitting error in the second set, hitting .412 (14 kills, 34 attempts).
The Stags took their first lead of the match when they built an early 3-1 cushion in the third set, but Manhattan immediately responded with eight of the next nine points, going ahead 9-4 on a kill by Jamie Collareta (Islip Terrace, N.Y.). The Lady Jaspers extended their lead to 18-7 before Fairfield used a 4-1 run to get back within eight at 19-11. After Manhattan won the next point to make it 20-11, Bies began serving. She had three aces during a 5-0 run that brought the Lady Jaspers to match point, and a Havens kill ended it, 25-12. The 3-0 sweep was Manhattan's fourth straight win, and the Lady Jaspers' first victory over Fairfield since Oct. 27, 2003.
"Today showed the progress we've been making over the past couple weeks," Head Coach Mark Jones said. "I give the team a lot of credit. We were firing on all cylinders today, and we finished very well at the end."
Diane Strutner (San Jose, Calif.) posted a match-high 10 kills and added seven digs, and Havens slammed nine kills on .571 hitting to go along with three blocks. Rahey notched five kills on .308 hitting, while Maddie Heck (Corte Madera, Calif.) and Alexa Lampasona (Remensburg, N.Y.) each had three kills without an attack error. Collareta handed out 25 assists. Bies served a career-high five aces and tallied a team-high 10 digs, as Manhattan outdug Fairfield 40-38.
Brianna Dixion paced the Stags with eight kills. She added seven digs. Rachel Romansky tallied six kills and distributed 14 assists, while Bethany Steiger notched five kills and Hannah Segebart dished out six assists. Kara Reis registered a match-high 11 digs for Fairfield. Overall, the Stags hit .000 (27-27-107) as a team.
The Lady Jaspers conclude their home schedule on Sunday afternoon, when they host Rider (3-22, 2-13 MAAC) at 2 p.m. It will be Senior Day, as seniors Aurore Kullak (Beloeil, Belgium), Jayne Timo (Holbrook, N.Y.), Rahey and Strutner will he honored prior to the match.
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