Box Score
HEMPSTEAD, N.Y. ? The Manhattan College volleyball team concluded its non-conference schedule on Tuesday night with a short trip to Long Island for a matchup with Hofstra. The Lady Jaspers (6-16) played well in the first two sets before falling to the Pride (13-11), 25-23, 25-22, 25-14 at the Physical Fitness Center. The loss was Manhattan's fourth in its last five matches.
Hofstra quickly built an 8-2 lead to open the match and ran their advantage to 19-13, prompting a Manhattan timeout. Rita Welsh (Collegeville, Pa.) pounded a kill out of the break to start a 6-0 run. The Lady Jaspers tied it at 19-19 on a Katie Kerbstat (Saddle River, N.J.) service ace before Hofstra scored the next point to end the rally and regain the lead. Manhattan tied the score again at 20-20 and 21-21, but was unable to go in front each time, and the Pride closed out the set, 25-23.
It was the Lady Jaspers who took the early lead in the second set, pulling out to a 4-1 advantage. Hofstra came back to force a 5-5 tie before Manhattan scored the next two points to regain the lead. With Manhattan leading 7-5, the Pride went on a 6-0 run to take a four-point lead of their own, but the Lady Jaspers fought right back and tied it at 13-13 on an ace by Jen Haggerty (Springfield, Pa.). Hofstra broke open a 15-15 deadlock with a 5-1 rally that made it 20-16 in favor of the Pride. Manhattan pulled within one at 21-20, but the Pride held on, 25-22, to take a 2-0 lead in the match.
The third set was all Hofstra. With the set tied at 1-1, the Pride went on a 3-0 spurt to take a lead they wouldn't relinquish. A 9-1 Hofstra run increased the Pride's lead to 15-6 before the Lady Jaspers trimmed their deficit to 19-11. Hofstra responded with a 5-1 rally to earn its first match point and closed out the straight sets win with a 25-14 triumph in the third set.
Sherryta Stokes (Beltsville, Md.) tallied another double-double for the Lady Jaspers with 14 kills and 11 digs. Welsh added seven kills. Diane Strutner (San Jose, Calif.) recorded a team-high 13 digs, while Alyssa Getzel (Richmond, Va.) registered 26 assists, six digs and three aces. As a team, the Lady Jaspers hit .135 (31 kills, 17 errors, 104 attempts) for the match.
Five Hofstra players posted at least six kills, led by Lauren Engle's 13. Engle also registered 12 digs and three aces. Monica Knight tallied 10 digs for the Pride, while Harmonie Calinda and Rachel August each tallied nine digs. As a team, Hofstra out-dug Manhattan 49-47. Chrissey Cruz dished out 29 assists and Sarah Lopez distributed 10 assists. Five Hofstra hit over .300 in the match, as the Pride hit .308 (45-12-107) as a team and tallied 45 kills to the Lady Jaspers' 31.
This contest concluded a span where Manhattan played 11 of 13 matches on the road. The Lady Jaspers are now home for five straight, starting with a showdown against Iona (15-9, 7-5 MAAC) on Saturday at 12 p.m. at Draddy Gymnasium. Rider (9-13, 2-10 MAAC) visits Riverdale at 2 p.m. on Sunday. A live webcast of both matches will be available at www.gojaspers.com as a part of the JasperVision package.
