Manhattan University Athletics

NEW ROCHELLE, N.Y. – Entering this season, the Manhattan College volleyball team hadn't beaten Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) rival Iona in New Rochelle since 2006, a span of eight matches.  That streak came to an end on Saturday afternoon, as the Jaspers (13-8, 6-3 MAAC) notched a 25-20, 23-25, 25-18, 19-25, 15-11 victory over the Gaels (5-16, 2-8 MAAC) at the Hynes Athletic Center.  Manhattan has now won a season-high five straight matches.

Iona jumped in front early, building a 7-2 advantage in the first set.  However, the Jaspers responded with a 12-4 rally, opening up a 14-11 lead on a kill by Clare Bozzo (Salinas, Calif.).  After a Sydney Volovski (Oswego, Ill.) kill made it 18-13, the Gaels scored four straight points to pull within one.  Manhattan ended the set on a 7-3 run, though, and took the stanza by a 25-20 margin.

In the second set, Iona again took an early lead, getting blocks on two of the first four points to open up a 3-1 advantage.  The Jaspers pulled within one when a Jade Gray (Boise, Idaho) service ace made it 9-8 before the Gaels claimed three of the next four points.  After Manhattan again trimmed its deficit to one at 12-11, Iona went on a 5-1 spurt to run its lead to five points, 17-12.  With Iona leading 20-15, Teodora Peric (Chicago, Ill.) slammed a kill to start a 6-1 Manhattan rally that again brought the Jaspers within one, 22-21.  However, Iona reached set point at 24-22, and the Gaels evened the match with a 25-23 set win.

After the sides traded the first six points of the third set, Volovski smashed a kill to start a 14-5 Manhattan rally that gave the Jaspers a 17-8 lead.  The Jaspers reached set point at 24-15, but needed four opportunities before Claire Van Dyk (New Richmond, Wis.) put away a 25-18 win.

The Gaels used a 6-1 run early in the fourth set to turn a 3-3 tie into a 9-4 lead.  After a Natalie Ziskin ace put Iona in front 13-7, a Malia McGuinness (Kailua, Hawaii) kill started a 7-4 Manhattan run that brought the Jaspers within one, 15-14.  Iona scored the next three points to run its margin back to 18-14 before back-to-back Manhattan points again trimmed the margin to two, 18-16.  However, Iona scored seven of the final 10 points, taking the set 25-19 to force a decisive fifth frame.

It was Manhattan that came out of the gate well in the fifth set, as Volovski smashed four kills and Allie Yamashiro (Kapolei, Hawaii) served a pair of aces to give the Jaspers an 8-2 edge at the side change.  Kills by Van Dyk and Marissa Behrens (Honolulu, Hawaii) extended the margin to 10-3 before Iona rallied to get within three at 12-9.  However, McGuinness and Van Dyk slammed kills to bring Manhattan to match point, and another McGuinness kill finished off a 15-11 set win that clinched the 3-2 victory.  As a team, the Jaspers pounded 11 kills and hit .321 (two errors, 28 attempts) in the fifth set.

With the win, its first 3-2 triumph since Sept. 21 at Fairfield, Manhattan improved to 4-1 on the road in conference play.  The Jaspers also moved to 3-2 this season in five-set matches.

Volovski slammed a match-high 23 kills, while McGuinness had her second straight 20-20 performance with 20 kills and 27 digs.  Van Dyk also recorded a double-double with 12 kills and 19 digs, and Gray tallied 48 assists to go along with 18 digs.  Gray also contributed six kills on .312 hitting.  Yamashiro collected a match-high 32 digs, as the Jaspers outdug the Gaels 115-96.  As a team, Manhattan hit .158 (71-37-215) in the match.

Catrina Warren finished with 18 kills, 20 digs and six blocks for the Gaels.  Taylor Cembalisty added 10 kills, 26 digs and six blocks.  Kassandra Daranby contributed nine kills and 11 digs, while Ziskin also just missed a double-double with 39 assists and nine digs.  Shannon Ward had eight kills and six blocks, and Karly White tallied eight blocks, as Iona recorded 17 blocks to Manhattan's four.  Katie Marabella returned 25 digs for the Gaels, who hit .168 (51-19-191) as a team.