Box Score
FAIRFIELD, Conn. – Entering this season, Manhattan College volleyball team had never won at Fairfield's Alumni Hall. That changed on Sunday afternoon. The Jaspers (8-4, 2-0 MAAC) dropped the first two sets to the two-time defending Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) champion Stags (5-7, 1-1 MAAC) before rallying for a 23-25, 8-25, 25-20, 25-21, 15-12 victory, their first-ever triumph in 17 all-time visits to Fairfield.
The sides traded the first eight points of the fifth set before Manhattan got a kill from Anna Kitlar (Kiel, Germany), followed by a block by Kitlar and Teodora Peric (Chicago, Ill.) to take a 6-4 lead. That started an 8-2 Manhattan run, and the Jaspers extended their advantage to six at 12-6 on a kill by Malia McGuinness (Kailua, Hawaii), which was the 1,000th of her career. A Sydney Volovski (Oswego, Ill.) kill brought the Jaspers to match point at 14-9, but Fairfield fought off three opportunities before the Jaspers completed the comeback on a kill by Claire Van Dyk (New Richmond, Wis.).
It was Manhattan's second 0-2 comeback of the year, and the Jaspers' fourth since the beginning of last season. Manhattan has a 25-9 record in five-set matches since the start of the 2010 campaign.
“We put a lot of pressure on them in the fifth set,” Head Coach Mark Jones said. “After we won the fourth, we really wanted to complete the comeback. I'm just so proud of this team for never giving up and showing a lot of heart.”
Fairfield, which knocked Manhattan out in the semifinals of the 2013 MAAC Tournament, rallied to win a tightly-contested first set that featured 10 ties and three lead changes. Manhattan led 14-12 before the Stags went on a 7-1 run to open up a 19-15 advantage. The Jaspers captured the next three points to get back within one, 19-18, but Fairfield responded with two straight points to regain a three-point edge, 21-18. After the Jaspers tied the score at 23-23, Fairfield claimed the next two points to wrap up the set, 25-23.
The Stags then dominated the second set. Fairfield scored the first three points of the frame before the Jaspers got within 4-3 on a McGuinness service ace. However, the Stags ended the set on a 21-5 spurt, taking a 2-0 match lead with a 25-8 win. The Stags hit .417 (12 kills, two errors, 24 attempts as a team in the second set, while Manhattan was held to -.161 (3-8-31) hitting.
In the third set, Fairfield again jumped out to an early lead, quickly taking a 4-0 advantage. However, the Jaspers responded with eight straight points on McGuinness' serve, opening up an 8-4 lead on a Volovski kill. Fairfield pulled within one at 12-11 before McGuinness slammed a kill to start a 3-0 run that pushed Manhattan's advantage back to four, 15-11. The Jaspers reached set point at 24-18, and Kitlar slammed a kill to finish off a 25-20 set win that extended the match.
Once again, the Stags opened up a 4-0 lead in the fourth set, and Fairfield eventually extended that margin to eight points at 18-10. However, a McGuinness kill, followed by back-to-back Peric aces started a 4-0 run that got the Jaspers within four, 18-14. Fairfield led by six at 21-15 when Marissa Behrens (Honolulu, Hawaii) slammed a kill to start a 10-0 Manhattan run that ended the set. Volovski and Kitlar blocked Hadley Orr to cap the rally, giving the Jaspers the set, 25-21, and forcing a decisive frame.
“Allie served great,” Jones said. “She came up huge. She really got Fairfield out of system, which helped us set up our offense. A lot of different people made contributions today.”
Volovski led the Jaspers with 10 kills, while McGuinness finished with eight kills and 14 digs. Peric, meanwhile, had perhaps her best match in a Manhattan uniform. She tallied a career-high 23 digs to go along with 28 assists, seven kills, two aces and four blocks. Van Dyk also notched seven kills and added 10 digs. Allie Yamashiro (Kapolei, Hawaii) collected a team-high 24 digs, as the Jaspers outdug the Stags 89-83. As a team, Manhattan hit .047 (43-35-172) in the match.
Megan Theiller had a double-double for Fairfield, posting 17 kills and 15 digs. Orr also notched a double-double with 10 kills and 13 digs, and she added six blocks. Carsen Mata handed out 24 assists to go along with 16 digs, while Sydney Buckley handed out 14 assists. Megan O'Sullivan, meanwhile, reached double-figures with 11 kills. Camille Coffey finished with 24 digs and three aces for Fairfield, which hit .122 (50-29-172) as a team.
After playing 11 of their first 12, including their last eight, away from home, the Jaspers return to Draddy Gymnasium on Saturday. Manhattan will host Marist (10-2, 2-0 MAAC) at 1 p.m. in a matchup of the teams with the two best records in the MAAC.