Box Score
BUFFALO, N.Y. – The Manhattan College volleyball team entered Sunday's match looking to maintain its hold on first place in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC). And after five grueling sets against Canisius, that's exactly what the Jaspers did. Manhattan (12-7, 6-1 MAAC) rallied from two sets down to post a 23-25, 25-27, 25-19, 25-23, 15-13 victory over the Griffs (6-12, 4-3 MAAC) at the Koessler Athletic Center. It was Manhattan's third straight five-set triumph, and fifth consecutive win overall.
Trailing 2-0 in the match, the Jaspers fell behind 6-4 early in the third set. Manhattan rallied to go up 11-9 before Canisius evened the score at 18-18. However, Juliana Behrens (Honolulu, Hawaii) smashed a kill on the next point to start a set-ending 6-1 Manhattan run. Anna Kitlar (Kiel, Germany) ended the frame with three consecutive kills, as the Jaspers took the third set by a 25-19 count. Manhattan hit a solid .364 (15 kills, three errors, 33 attempts) as a team in the set.
The fourth set featured nine ties and four lead changes. The Griffs used a 5-1 run to turn an 8-5 deficit into a 10-9 advantage before the Jaspers responded with a 4-0 spurt to make it 13-10 in their favor. After a Behrens kill put Manhattan up 17-14, Canisius scored five of the next six points to regain the lead, 19-18. Behrens slammed another kill to even the score at 19-19, and it would be deadlocked again at 20-20, 21-21 and 22-22. Manhattan got a kill from Kitlar and a service ace from Ellie Wiekamp (Laguna Niguel, Calif.) to break that 22-22 tie and reach set point, then Kitlar pounded another kill to wrap up a 25-23 set win and send the match into a decisive fifth frame.
Canisius scored the first two points of the fifth set before the Jaspers quickly rallied to go up 5-3. After the Griffs tied the score at 7-7, Malia McGuinness (Kailua, Hawaii) slammed a kill to give Manhattan an 8-7 edge on the side switch. The Griffs claimed the next point to even things again at 8-8, but Manhattan responded with a 3-0 spurt, opening up an 11-8 cushion on another McGuinness kill. The Jaspers held on to that advantage the rest of the way, reaching match point at 14-12 and capping off the comeback victory on a kill by Wiekamp. Manhattan took the final set 15-13.
With the win, Manhattan snapped a three-match losing streak against Canisius, and swept the Buffalo trip for the first time since 2002. It also marked the second time this season the Jaspers battled back to win after dropping the first two sets.
Sets one and two both could've gone either way. The Griffs took an early 5-2 lead in the first set before the Jaspers countered with a 7-2 run to go up 9-7. After Manhattan extended its advantage to 14-11, Canisius went on an 8-3 rally to pull ahead, 19-17. The Jaspers scored the next two points to tie it at 19-19, but the Griffs responded by taking five of the next seven points. Canisius reached set point at 24-21 and eventually closed out the frame by a margin of 25-23.
In the second set, the Griffs again jumped out early, opening up a 6-1 advantage. After Canisius extended its cushion to 15-9, the Jaspers went on a 10-2 rally, pulling ahead 19-17 on a Wiekamp kill. A block by Kitlar and Sydney Volovski (Oswego, Ill.) made it 21-18 in favor of the Jaspers before Canisius used a 6-2 spurt to reach set point at 24-23. Behrens recorded a kill to even the score at 24-24, and Manhattan fought off another set point when a Wiekamp kill made it 25-25. However, the Griffs converted on their third set point opportunity, posting a 27-25 win to take a 2-0 lead in the match.
McGuinness paced the Jaspers with 16 kills and 20 digs, while Wiekamp tallied 15 kills and 13 digs. Teodora Peric (Chicago, Ill.) also had a double-double, posting 49 assists and 12 digs. Kitlar finished with 14 kills on .480 hitting to go along with a career-high nine blocks. Allie Yamashiro (Kapolei, Hawaii) collected 19 digs and Sarah Haselhorst (Naperville, Ill.) contributed 13 digs, as the Jaspers outdug the Griffs 83-76. As a team, Manhattan hit .204 (67-30-181) in the match.
Rachel Kline led Canisius with 15 kills, while Emily Elek added 14 kills and five blocks. Katlyn Tyler and Grace Streicher each recorded a double-double. Tyler had 11 kills and 14 digs, and Streicher tallied 28 assists and 10 digs. Sydney Palka handed out 20 assists. Emily Litwin, meanwhile, finished with a match-high 29 digs. Canisius hit .186 (58-25-177) as a team.
The Jaspers are now off until Saturday, when they begin a four-match homestand against rival Iona (6-11, 4-3 MAAC) at 1 p.m. Eight of Manhattan's next nine matches will be played in Riverdale.