Box Score
RIVERDALE, N.Y. - When Manhattan and Fairfield played in Connecticut on Oct. 2, the Lady Jaspers had trouble containing Fairfield's powerful offense, as the Stags hit .320 (46 kills, 14 errors, 100 attempts) in the 3-0 victory. Things were a little different at Draddy Gymnasium on Sunday afternoon, as the Lady Jaspers (7-19, 3-11 MAAC) claimed the first set against the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC)-leading Stags (15-11, 12-2 MAAC). Manhattan couldn't keep the momentum, though, as Fairfield won the final three sets to notch its 11th straight victory over the Lady Jaspers, 16-25, 25-15, 25-21, 25-14.
In the first set, Manhattan raced out to a 10-3 advantage before Fairfield chipped away to pull within three at 12-9. The Lady Jaspers responded with three straight points to bring their lead back to six, 15-9. After the Stags again climbed within three at 18-15, Manhattan went on a 7-1 run to end the set. The Lady Jaspers reached set point after Jaci Rahey (West Milford, N.J.) and Maddie Heck (Corte Madera, Calif.) got together for back-to-back blocks, and took a 1-0 lead in the match with a 25-16 set win. In the first meeting, Fairfield slammed 19 kills and hit .536 in the first set. On Sunday, the Lady Jaspers held Fairfield to .000 (8-8-35) hitting while hitting .242 (12-4-33) themselves.
The Lady Jaspers scored the first three points of the second set, but Fairfield rallied for the next five to take a 5-3 lead. Manhattan responded with four of the next five points to go back in front, 7-6. Fairfield won the next point to force a 7-7 tie, and the teams were tied four more times in the next 10 points. A kill by Fairfield's Haililani Pokipala broke a 12-12 deadlock and ignited a 7-1 run that gave the Stags a 19-13 lead. Fairfield ended the set on a 13-3 run, and evened the match with a 25-15 victory. The Stags hit .320 (12-4-25) in the second set, while Manhattan hit -.071 (5-7-28).
Fairfield opened up an early 4-2 lead in the third set before Manhattan rallied to tie the score at 5-5 on a service ace by Julie Bies (Massapequa, N.Y.). The Stags scored the next three points to go back in front, 8-5. Manhattan gradually chipped away at Fairfield's lead, finally tying it at 17-17 on a block by Rita Welsh (Collegeville, Pa.) and Casey Tidwell (Redlands, Calif.). After Manhattan took a 19-18 lead on Laura Bellotti's (Dix Hills, N.Y.) ace, the Stags responded with a 6-1 run to reach set point. Fairfield took a 2-1 lead in the match with a 25-21 third set win.
After the teams traded leads early in the fourth set, Fairfield used a 4-0 spurt to turn a 7-6 deficit into a 10-7 advantage. Manhattan scored three of the next four points to cut Fairfield's lead to 11-10, but, just like they did in the second set, the Stags used a big rally to break it open. Fairfield took the next three points to push its lead back to four points, 14-10, then used a 6-0 run to increase its advantage to 20-12. The Stags scored 14 of the final 18 points to take the set, 25-14, and finish off a 3-1 match victory.
Rahey led the Lady Jaspers with 13 kills, and Diane Strutner (San Jose, Calif.) posted a double-double with 10 kills and 12 digs. Welsh tallied nine kills and added four blocks, as Manhattan outblocked Fairfield 8-5. Jayne Timo (Holbrook, N.Y.) registered 11 digs, while Bies and Bellotti each had 10 digs and two aces. Jamie Collareta (Islip Terrace, N.Y.) just missed a double-double with 29 assists and nine digs. Manhattan hit .091 (36-24-132) as a team.
Katie Mann pounded a match-high 18 kills on .381 hitting to pace the Stags. Alex Ferraco recorded 11 kills on .588 hitting and added three blocks. Kara Reis registered a match-high 19 digs and Brianna Dixion posted 10 digs, as Fairfield outdug Manhattan 61-58. Lauren Balmert had seven digs and two aces to go along with 29 assists. As a team, Fairfield hit .176 (45-22-131) in the match.
Manhattan concludes its five-match homestand against Iona (9-15, 6-8 MAAC) at 12 p.m. on Saturday. It will be the first meeting this season between the Lady Jaspers and Gaels, who split the season series in 2008. The match will be webcast live at www.gojaspers.com as a part of the JasperVision package.
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