Box Score
POUGHKEEPSIE, N.Y. – The Manhattan College volleyball team began its Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) schedule with a visit to Marist, the 2014 MAAC regular season champions, on Saturday afternoon. After dropping the first set, the Jaspers (7-6, 1-0 MAAC) rallied for a 22-25, 32-30, 25-20, 30-28 triumph over the Red Foxes (6-5, 0-1 MAAC). It was Manhattan's third straight victory at McCann Arena.
In the first set, Marist built a 15-9 advantage before the Jaspers rallied within three at 18-15. The Red Foxes countered with a 5-1 spurt to push the margin back to seven points at 23-16, but Manhattan again battled back. The Jaspers rattled off three straight points before a kill by Kelsey Lahey gave Marist its first set point opportunity. After Manhattan fought off three set points, extending its run to 6-1, Courtney Shaw slammed a kill to finish off the Red Foxes' 25-22 win.
There were 18 ties and 10 lead changes in a back-and-forth second set. Manhattan used a 9-3 run to turn a 13-13 deadlock into a 22-16 cushion, but Marist responded with an 8-2 spurt to tie the score at 24-24. After a Sydney Volovski (Oswego, Ill.) kill gave the Jaspers a set point, the Red Foxes won the next two points to earn one of their own. Each side had three set points before Manhattan finally closed out a 32-30 win on a block by Volovski and Marissa Behrens (Honolulu, Hawaii).
It was Manhattan that took the early lead in the third set, as the Jaspers opened up a 6-2 cushion. After Marist stormed back to go up 14-10, Manhattan went on a 6-0 run to regain a 16-14 advantage. The Red Foxes rallied to tie the score at 17-17, and it would be knotted again at 18-18 and 20-20 before the Jaspers scored the final five points of the frame. An Allie Yamashiro (Kapolei, Hawaii) service ace brought Manhattan to set point, then Volovski pounded a kill to finish off a 25-20 win and give the Jaspers a 2-1 lead in the match.
Manhattan carried its momentum into the fourth set, building an early 10-5 lead. However, Marist rallied to force a 17-17 deadlock. After a Milena Janjusevic (Belgrade, Serbia) kill started a 6-2 spurt that gave the Jaspers a 23-19 advantage, the Red Foxes responded with a 5-1 rally to tie it at 24-24. The Jaspers had three match points at 25-24, 26-25 and 27-26, but Marist fought off each before earning its first set point at 28-27. Janjusevic smacked a kill to tie the score, then a block by Ivana Kostic (Grocka, Serbia) and Jade Gray (Boise, Idaho) gave Manhattan its fourth match point. The fourth time was the charm, as Claire Van Dyk (New Richmond, Wis.) ended the set, 30-28, and the match with her 17th kill of the day.
Marist has only lost four home matches since the start of the 2013 season, with three of those defeats coming against Manhattan. This also marked the second time in three years that the Jaspers started MAAC play with a win in Poughkeepsie, and Manhattan's third straight season winning its conference opener.
Van Dyk finished with 17 kills and 19 digs to lead the Jaspers. She added three aces. Gray also had a double-double with 32 assists and 15 digs, while Kostic tallied nine kills on .381 hitting to go along with nine blocks and a pair of aces. Yamashiro contributed 21 digs, and Alyssa Rehrer (Lorton, Va.) notched 11 digs, three kills, three assists and two aces. Janjusevic registered 14 digs, as the Jaspers outdug the Red Foxes 90-87. Manhattan hit .184 (51 kills, 19 errors, 174 attempts) as a team.
Shaw had a match-high 21 kills on .487 hitting for Marist. Kelsey Edgier recorded a double-double with 15 kills and 16 digs, while Amanda Schlegel finished with 42 assists, 21 digs and five kills (on .364 hitting). Lahey notched 13 kills, and Melanie Snyder posted 14 digs. Lexi Millington tallied a match-high 25 digs to go along with eight assists for the Red Foxes, who hit a combined .178 (61-27-191) in the match.
On Sunday, Manhattan visits defending MAAC champion Siena (4-6, 1-0 MAAC) at 1 p.m. It will be the first meeting between the Jaspers and Saints since last season's MAAC semifinals, when Siena posted a 3-0 win over Manhattan on its way to the conference title.