Jaspers Roll Past Hartford In Home Opener

RIVERDALE, N.Y. – The Manhattan College volleyball team played its home opener on Wednesday night.  And the Jaspers made sure not to disappoint the home fans.  The Manhattan offense was on fire, making just one hitting error in the first two sets combined, as the Jaspers (4-0) continued their perfect start to the season with a 25-15, 25-13, 28-26 victory over Hartford (1-3) at Draddy Gymnasium.

“Playing at home is really good for us.  We always do well at home,” Head Coach Mark Jones said.  “I'm very proud of the way we approached the match, and I'm very happy with the result.”

Manhattan took control of the first set early on, quickly jumping out to a 5-2 lead.  The Hawks got within one at 8-7, but wouldn't win consecutive points again for the rest of the set.  A Malia McGuinness (Kailua, Hawaii) kill started a 4-0 Manhattan run that brought the Jaspers' cushion to five points, 12-7.  With Manhattan leading 18-14, Sydney Volovski (Oswego, Ill.) pounded a kill to spark a 7-1 rally that closed out the set.  Offensively, the Jaspers didn't commit an error in the 25-15 win, slamming 13 kills and hitting an outstanding .481 (27 attempts).

It was more of the same in set two, as Manhattan opened up a 3-0 lead on kills by McGuinness and Anna Kitlar (Kiel, Germany), as well as an Allie Yamashiro (Kapolei, Hawaii) service ace.  The advantage reached 8-1 before Hartford called timeout, but even that wasn't enough to slow the Jaspers' momentum.  With Manhattan leading 16-9, a Teodora Peric (Chicago, Ill.) kill ignited a 6-1 spurt that increased the margin to 12 points at 22-10.  The Jaspers reached set point on a McGuinness ace and claimed the frame by a 25-13 count.  Manhattan's first attack error of the match came in the second set, but the Jaspers still hit .312 (11-1-32) in the stanza, giving them a two-set hitting percentage of .390 (24-1-59).

“I think what definitely was the difference was that we passed very well and played great defense,” Jones said.  “So we were able to get the outsides more opportunities to swing, and our middles did a good job in the first two sets.”

In the third set, there were 11 ties and four lead changes.  Hartford pulled in front early, 4-2, before the Jaspers responded to take a 9-7 lead on a Peric ace.  Manhattan used a 4-0 spurt to turn a 15-14 lead into a 19-14 advantage, but the Hawks countered with a 7-2 run of their own to tie the score at 21-21.

After the Jaspers reached match point at 24-22, Hartford claimed the next two points to even the score again at 24-24, Manhattan earned its third set point opportunity on a McGuinness kill.  The Hawks pulled even once more, then got a set point of their own at 26-25.  A service error forced another deadlock at 26-26, and Kitlar and Volovski teamed up for a block on the next point to give the Jaspers another chance at wrapping up the victory.  This time, Manhattan sealed the deal, as Volovski pounded a kill to finish off the 28-26 set win and 3-0 match triumph.

Claire Van Dyk (New Richmond, Wis.) smashed a team-high 10 kills and added nine digs, while Volovski notched nine kills and three digs, and McGuinness added eight kills and eight digs.  Peric had a double-double with 30 assists and 13 digs.  She also hit .600.  Kitlar collected five blocks and Yamashiro finished with 13 digs.  The Jaspers hit .263 (36-10-99) as a team and outdug the Hawks 53-47.

Sareeta Nethersole had a match-high 11 kills for the Hawks.  Kathryn Gawrych added eight kills and Corinne Horanzy posted a team-best 11 digs.  Jackie Tamburri, meanwhile, recorded a double-double with 30 assists and 10 digs.  As a team, Hartford hit .099 (37-25-121) in the match.