RIVERDALE, N.Y. – For the seniors on the Manhattan College volleyball team, it couldn't have been scripted any better. In their final home match of the season, the Jaspers clinched a place in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) Tournament with a dominant performance. Manhattan (18-12, 11-5 MAAC) led from the start and never trailed at any point in a 25-16, 25-22, 25-18 victory over Iona (8-19, 5-10 MAAC) at Draddy Gymnasium.
“It's a lot of fun to come out and win on Senior Day,” senior Jade Gray (Boise, Idaho) said. “I'm really proud of everyone for playing really well today.”
Manhattan controlled the match from the get-go, scoring the first three points before extending the lead to 7-1 and 13-4. After back-to-back kills by Milena Janjusevic (Belgrade, Serbia) made it 21-9 in favor of the Jaspers, Iona went on a 6-0 run to pull within six, 21-15. However, Marissa Behrens (Honolulu, Hawaii) roped a kill on the next point to start a 4-1 Manhattan rally, and a Gray kill closed out the first set, 25-16. As a team, Manhattan slammed 18 kills and hit .350 (four errors, 40 attempts) in the opening frame.
The Jaspers raced out to a 3-0 advantage again in the second set, and it was 9-3 Manhattan before Iona scored three straight points to cut the margin to 9-6. After the Gaels pulled within two at 12-10, Claire Van Dyk (New Richmond, Wis.) ripped a kill to spark a 5-2 run that brought the lead back to five points, 17-12. A Behrens kill got the Jaspers to set point at 24-19 before Claire Archibald had three straight kills for Iona to make it 24-22 and force a Manhattan timeout. Olyvia Chaltas (Temecula, Calif.) put away a kill on the next point, though, to finish off a 25-22 set win and give the Jaspers a 2-0 lead in the match.
In the third set, Manhattan again built an early lead and never looked back. The Jaspers held advantages of 3-9, 10-2 and 14-4 before Iona went on a 4-1 run to close within 15-8. Ivana Kostic (Grocka, Serbia) slammed a kill on the next point, though, to start a 5-1 Manhattan rally that extended the Jaspers' cushion to 20-9. A Van Dyk kill set up match point at 24-14, and on the Jaspers' fifth opportunity, Behrens wrapped up the set, 25-18, and Manhattan's second consecutive 3-0 victory. With the win, Manhattan clinched a berth in the MAAC Tournament for the third straight year.
“We came to play today,” Head Coach Mark Jones said. “We passed pretty consistently and our offense was on, especially in the first set. I'm really proud of the seniors. This is a great day.”
Janjusevic pounded 18 kills on .389 hitting. She also tallied eight digs and two service aces. Van Dyk finished with nine kills and a match-high 19 digs in her final appearance at Draddy Gymnasium, while Behrens had eight kills. Chaltas registered seven kills, and Kostic notched six kills on .625 hitting to go along with four blocks. Gray posted a double-double with 34 assists and 15 digs. Allie Yamashiro (Kapolei, Hawaii) collected 16 digs, as the Jaspers outdug the Gaels 69-60. Yamashiro and Alyssa Rehrer (Lorton, Va.) served two aces apiece for Manhattan, which added six to its national-leading total. The Jaspers hit .239 (50-18-134) as a team.
Amanda Gannon had a double-double for Iona with 12 kills and 12 digs. Archibald tallied nine kills, and Jessica Paolucci registered a team-high 14 digs. Natalie Ziskin posted 15 assists and eight digs, while Emma Rose finished with 10 assists and eight digs. As a team, the Gaels hit .094 (28-17-117) in the match.
All of the other top teams in the MAAC won on Saturday, so the Jaspers are still a half-game behind first-place Siena and Rider in the standings. Manhattan will be off on Sunday while the others are all in action, including a key matchup between Rider and Fairfield. The Jaspers' next match will be against the Stags (15-9, 10-4 MAAC) in Connecticut next Saturday at 1 p.m.