Manhattan University Athletics

RIVERDALE, N.Y. – On Senior Day at Draddy Gymnasium, the Manhattan College volleyball team got everything it could've hoped for.  The Jaspers (20-11, 13-5 MAAC) sent Sarah Haselhorst (Naperville, Ill.), Anna Kitlar (Kiel, Germany) and Malia McGuinness (Kailua, Hawaii) out as winners, notching a 25-16, 25-23, 25-21 triumph over Iona (8-22, 5-13 MAAC) on Saturday afternoon.  With the victory, Manhattan tied a school-record for conference wins, as well as securing back-to-back 20 win seasons.  The Jaspers also locked up the No. 3 seed for next week's Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) Tournament.

McGuinness was sensational in her final match at Draddy Gymnasium, smashing 16 kills on .375 hitting while also recording 10 digs for her fifth straight double-double and 21^st of the season.  Claire Van Dyk (New Richmond, Wis.) also had a double-double with 13 kills and 11 digs, while Sydney Volovski (Oswego, Ill.) slammed 11 kills and committed just one error in 21 attempts, hitting .476 in the victory.  Kitlar, meanwhile, contributed five kills, two digs and two blocks, and Haselhorst tallied 10 digs.  Jade Gray (Boise, Idaho) handed out 38 assists to go along with seven digs and two blocks.  Allie Yamashiro (Kapolei, Hawaii) finished with 21 digs, putting her one shy of the single-season school record and three away from becoming the first Jasper to ever collect 600 digs in one season.  The Jaspers hit .252 (48 kills, 16 errors, 127 attempts) as a team and outdug the Gaels 63-52.

Catrina Warren paced Iona with 10 kills, while Taylor Cembalisty had seven kills on .316 hitting.  Shannon Ward also tallied seven kills and added three blocks.  Caris Myles distributed 29 assists, and Katie Marabella notched a match-high 22 digs for the Gaels.  As a team, Iona hit .167 (35-15-120) in the match.

“The seniors have worked hard this entire season, and I know they had some personal goals they wanted to achieve,” Head Coach Mark Jones said.  “And I know the team really wanted to work hard and make sure it was a special day.  I think they did a great job.  The result shows.”

Iona got off to a good start, scoring the first three points of the match, before McGuinness, Van Dyk and Volovski combined for eight kills to give the Jaspers a 9-8 lead in the first set.  After a block by Gray and Clare Bozzo (Salinas, Calif.) extended Manhattan's advantage to 12-9, the Gaels responded with three of the next four points to pull back within one, 13-12.  However, McGuinness pounded a kill on the next point to start a 9-2 Manhattan rally that ran the margin to eight, 22-14.  McGuinness ripped her sixth (and the Jaspers' 19^th) kill of the frame to bring Manhattan to set point, and the Jaspers hit .298 (19-5-47) as a team in the 25-16 win.

There were 10 ties and six lead changes in the second set, as play went back-and-forth early on.  The Gaels jumped out to a 3-1 lead before Manhattan went in front 4-3 and Iona responded with three straight points to go up 6-4.  With the score knotted at 13-13, McGuinness smoked a kill to start a 3-0 run that put the Jaspers in front 16-13, but Iona again rallied to tie it at 16-16.  A Volovski kill gave the lead back to Manhattan and ignited a 7-3 rally that gave the Jaspers a 23-19 cushion.  Iona once again fought back though, scoring three straight points to get within one, 23-22, and force Jones to call timeout.  Kitlar got Manhattan to set point with a kill, then a kill by McGuinness finished off the 25-23 win.

In the third set, the sides traded the first 10 points before Van Dyk slammed a kill to break a 5-5 deadlock and start a 10-2 Manhattan run that put the Jaspers in front 15-7.  Iona scored 13 of the next 18 points to trim its deficit to four, 20-16, but Volovski followed with a kill that ignited a 3-1 Jasper rally.  A Haselhorst service ace made it 23-17 Manhattan and a McGuinness kill set up match point at 24-19.  Fittingly, it was also McGuinness that capped the victory, as her final competitive swing at Draddy Gymnasium resulted in a kill and a 25-21 set win that sealed a 3-0 match triumph.

“I think the seniors played really well today, and overall as a team we were consistent,” Jones said.  “We did a great job on the game plan, and we definitely followed through.”

The Jaspers enter the MAAC Tournament on a five-match winning streak and are 12-3 since Oct. 5.  Manhattan also equaled last season's program record for conference wins, and the Jaspers have now won 20 matches for the third time in Jones' tenure.  This also marks the first time since capturing consecutive MAAC titles in 2002-03 that Manhattan has put together back-to-back 20-win campaigns.