Box Score
RIVERDALE, N.Y. – On Sunday afternoon, the Manhattan College volleyball team concluded its four-match homestand with a Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) matchup against Quinnipiac. Coming off a loss to Fairfield on Saturday, the Jaspers (12-10, 6-3 MAAC) rebounded with a dominant 25-16, 25-10, 25-19 victory over the Bobcats (2-19, 1-9 MAAC) at Draddy Gymnasium to move back into third place in the MAAC standings at the midway point of conference play.
“We weren't happy with the result yesterday, but I'm really happy with how we responded,” Head Coach Mark Jones said. “I think mentally we were a little bit better today. We served really tough and had a lot of blocks.”
Quinnipiac took an early 3-1 lead in the first set before Claire Van Dyk (New Richmond, Wis.) smashed a kill to start a 14-4 rally that put the Jaspers in front 15-7. A Van Dyk service ace made it 21-11, and she finished off the 25-16 set win with a kill, her fourth of the stanza.
In the second set, Manhattan used a 7-0 run highlighted by consecutive Allie Yamashiro (Kapolei, Hawaii) aces to pull in front 9-2. The Jaspers tallied seven aces in the set, as Milena Janjusevic (Belgrade, Serbia) had a pair to make it 14-5, then Jade Gray (Boise, Idaho) served two in a row to extend the lead to 20-7. After a block by Janjusevic and Kelsey LaCour (Walnut Creek, Calif.) brought Manhattan to set point, the Jaspers closed out a 25-10 win to go up 2-0 in the match. Manhattan didn't commit an attack error in the set, smacking nine kills on 27 attempts and hitting .333 as a team.
Manhattan raced out to a 6-2 advantage in the third set, but the Bobcats responded with four straight points to tie it at 6-6. After the Jaspers went back in front 12-8, Quinnipiac went on a 3-0 spurt to cut the margin to one, 12-11. With Manhattan leading 17-16, Ivana Kostic (Grocka, Serbia) and Casey Monroe (Riverview, Fla.) teamed up for a block to ignite a 6-1 rally that extended the cushion to six points, 23-17. A kill by Jessi Skonning (La Grange, Ill.) set up match point, and Marissa Behrens (Honolulu, Hawaii) finished off the 3-0 victory with a kill. Manhattan took the third set by a 25-19 count.
It was a balanced offensive effort for Manhattan, as eight different Jaspers recorded at least one kill. Van Dyk led the way with nine kills and 13 digs. Kostic hit .500, slamming eight kills without an error to go along with six blocks, including two solo stuffs. Janjusevic contributed seven kills on .353 hitting while also notching four blocks. Gray handed out 25 assists, while Yamashiro returned nine digs.
All six servers recorded at least one ace, as the Jaspers added 13 to their national lead in that category. Yamashiro and Van Dyk tallied three aces apiece. Manhattan outblocked Quinnipiac 9-3 and hit .274 (33-7-95) as a team.
Jen Coffey had a match-high 10 kills for the Bobcats. Kat Miller recorded a double-double with 21 assists and 13 digs, while Chandler Thornton tallied 10 digs. As a team, Quinnipiac hit .092 (31-22-98) in the match. The Bobcats also outdug the Jaspers 46-39.
After playing six of their last eight matches at home, the Jaspers now hit the road for each of their next four. Manhattan visits Saint Peter's (3-15, 1-8 MAAC) at 7 p.m. on Wednesday for the second meeting between the squads in 10 days. The Jaspers beat the Peacocks in straight sets at Draddy Gymnasium on Oct. 11.