Riverdale, N.Y. (August 25, 2006)--Manhattan Volleyball dropped its season-opening match to Stony Brook University by a score of 3-0 (30-23, 30-27, 34-32) on day one of the third annual Jasper Volleyball Invitational. Sophomore attacker
Andrea Reiff led the hosts offensively with 11 kills and a .318 hitting percentage, while Stony Brook's Morgan Sweany topped all players with 13 kills.
Already having one match under their belts from earlier in the day, the Seawolves got off to a quick start offensively by out hitting Manhattan en route to a game one victory. In the first frame, SBU hit an even .400 with only three attack errors compared to the Lady Jaspers' attack rate of .133. Stony Brook's Sarah Bauer, who did not see action in games two or three, connected on five of seven attack attempts for a .714 hitting percentage.
Both sides struggled offensively in an error-plagued second game. Manhattan out hit Stony Brook by a slight margin in the frame, but the Seawolves were able to sneak away with a three-point win despite 14 attack errors.
With its back against the wall, Manhattan's offensive unit kicked it up a notch in game three by producing 19 kills, with freshman Kandice Watson and sophomore transfer
Sherryta Stokes notching five apiece. With the game deadlocked at 30, Stokes took a crisp pass from sophomore setter
Alyssa Getzel and drove it home into the floor to put the Lady Jaspers on the cusp of forcing a fourth game. SBU returned Manhattan's game point serve, however, with a big kill by Sweany. The Seawolves would soon seal the victory on two consecutive Lady Jasper miscues, a service error and attack error.
Stokes finished with eight kills and a team-high 13 digs in her Manhattan debut, while Getzel recorded 36 assists and seven digs.
The Lady Jaspers will try to redeem themselves with two matches tomorrow, the first coming against the University of Rhode Island at 10:00 a.m.
