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RIVERDALE, N.Y. - Following three straight losses, Sunday's match against Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) rival Marist amounted to a must-win for the Manhattan College volleyball team. And the Jaspers did just that. In dramatic fashion. Manhattan (12-9, 5-4 MAAC) battled back from two sets down to post a 20-25, 21-25, 25-18, 25-19, 15-10 victory over the Red Foxes (8-11, 5-4 MAAC) at Draddy Gymnasium. It was the Jaspers' second comeback from 2-0 down this season and Manhattan's 11th straight five-set win dating back to 2010.
"Today was a must-win," Head Coach Mark Jones said. "We have to win at home, and that's the bottom line. Some of those teams that we played on the road we didn't play well (against). If we play the way we did today we're going to be fine."
Marist took control of the first set early on, using a 5-0 run to turn a 3-3 deadlock into an 8-3 advantage. The Jaspers pulled back within 10-9 on a block by Mariana Furquim (Curitiba, Brazil) and Brittany DeGagne (Penticton, B.C.), but the Red Foxes countered with an 11-4 rally to extend their lead to eight, 21-13. Manhattan again battled back, once again making it a four-point margin at 24-20, before Marist closed out a 25-20 set win.
The Red Foxes scored the first three points of the second set and held a 7-4 lead until the Jaspers went on a 5-1 run to pull ahead, 9-8. After a Furquim kill put Manhattan in front 12-11, Marist rallied for six of the next seven points to regain the lead, 17-13. The Jaspers trimmed their deficit to one, 18-17, on a kill by Alexa Lampasona (Remsenburg, N.Y.), but that's as close as Manhattan would get. Marist won the set by a 25-21 margin to take a 2-0 lead in the match.
In the third set, it was the Jaspers who seized control early. With the score tied at 7-7, Furquim pounded a kill to spark a 10-2 Manhattan run that gave the Jaspers a 17-9 lead. Marist clawed back within three at 19-16 before a Lampasona kill, then a block by Furquim and DeGagne again made it a five-point margin. Manhattan reached set point on a service ace by Julie Bies (Massapequa, N.Y.) and extended the match with a 25-18 win.
The score would be tied nine times in a hotly-contested fourth set. Marist took an early 3-1 lead before the Jaspers rallied to knot things up at 4-4. The Red Foxes then won the next three points to go up 7-4, but Manhattan again tied it at 10-10. With the score deadlocked at 11-11, Malia McGuinness (Kailua, Hawaii) slammed a kill to give the Jaspers the lead, then Furquim followed with an ace. However, Marist responded with the next two points to tie it at 13-13. The score would be tied three more times before Manhattan finally took the lead for good at 18-17. The Jaspers scored eight of the final 10 points, getting an ace from LaKell Havens (St. George, Utah) to reach set point, then finishing off the 25-19 win on a McGuinness kill.
After the teams traded the first two points of the final stanza, a Lampasona kill started a 5-0 Manhattan run that put the Jaspers in front 6-1. The Jaspers never looked back after that, extending their advantage to eight points at 11-3. Marist pulled back within four at 12-8, but Manhattan responded with kills by DeGagne and Furquim to reach match point. The Red Foxes fought off two match point opportunities before Manhattan converted its third when Lampasona powered a swing through the Marist block. Manhattan hit .333 (10 kills, three errors, 21 attempts) to win the fifth set by a 15-10 count. With the victory, the Jaspers improved to 5-0 this season when the match goes the distance.
"The first set was a little hairy," Jones said. "But we came back really strong after that. We got a big lead on our serve, and there was a lot of confidence in the block and the defense. I think the defense was great on our part."
Furquim was brilliant for the Jaspers, compiling 20 kills on .459 hitting to go along with 20 digs, four service aces and five blocks. McGuinness also had a double-double with 18 kills and 15 digs. Lampasona slammed 13 kills and hit .324, while Havens posted eight kills and seven blocks. Hollegn Henderson (Long Beach, Calif.) just missed a double-double with a career-high 56 assists and nine digs. Bies notched 21 digs and Kelsey Huntoon (Monroe, Mich.) added 17 digs, as the Jaspers outdug the Red Foxes 93-73. Overall, Manhattan hit .211 (65-26-185) as a team.
Joanna Foss had 19 kills and 11 digs to lead the Red Foxes, while Grace Hill also finished with a double-double, notching 11 kills and a match-high 24 digs. Hanna Stoiberg tallied 14 kills, 29 assists, nine digs and seven blocks. Audra Brady handed out 23 assists, and Brooke Zywick collected 15 digs. Kayla Burton posted seven blocks for Marist. As a team, the Red Foxes hit .191 (62-26-188) in the match.
The win, Manhattan's first over Marist at home since 2008, moved the Jaspers into a fourth-place tie with the Red Foxes midway through the conference schedule. However, Manhattan currently holds the tiebreaker because of its head-to-head victory.
Up next for Manhattan is a rare midweek conference match, as the Jaspers visit Loyola (6-16, 3-6 MAAC) at 7 p.m. on Wednesday. The last five matches between the Jaspers and Greyhounds have gone the distance, including a 3-2 Manhattan win in Riverdale on Sept. 24.
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