Washington, D.C. (September 2, 2006)-Manhattan's combination of youth and experience in the middle proved to be the right one on Saturday afternoon for the Lady Jaspers as they earned their first win of the season at the American Volleyball Classic. In the 3-0 sweep (30-18, 30-17, 30-26) of Howard University, senior middle
Whitney Judkins hit .583 with nine kills and freshman middle
Rita Welsh tacked on another eight kills and three blocks.
Judkins, who is only one of two players that were part of Manhattan's last MAAC Championship in 2003, was Manhattan's most efficient offensive player for the second straight match; in last evening's loss to the New Jersey Institute of Technology, Judkins hit .316 with a team-high nine kills. In today's match, junior outside hitter
Ashley Watson finished with one more kill than Judkins for tops on the team, while also digging up eight attacks.
Sophomore setter
Alyssa Getzel, who is in her first season as a starter, was responsible for 30 of Manhattan's 37 assists on the afternoon and also notched three kills in four attack attempts. Getzel's presence was also felt in the service game as the Virginia native connected on a match-high five aces.
A large portion of Howard's attacks came from Janel James, who finished with a match-high 11 kills, but the sophomore outside hitter hit only .054.
Sophomore
Andrea Reiff's 10 digs led Manhattan, who will close out tournament play tonight against host American University at 7:00 p.m.
