Lady Jaspers Knock Off FDU In Four Sets

Box Score

RIVERDALE, N.Y. - The Manhattan College volleyball team put together what was easily its best effort of the season on Wednesday night.  Rita Welsh (Collegeville, Pa.) pounded 11 kills and hit a scorching .846 to lead the Lady Jaspers (2-3) to a 25-16, 25-23, 14-25, 25-10 victory over Fairleigh Dickinson (3-6) at Draddy Gymnasium.

The Lady Jaspers quickly jumped out to an 8-2 lead in the opening set and never looked back.  The Knights scored the next three points to make it 8-5, but Manhattan ran its lead back to seven points when Kelsey Huntoon's (Monroe, Mich.) service ace made the score 14-7.  The Lady Jaspers ran their advantage to 19-9 before a 6-3 FDU run cut the Knights' deficit to 22-15.  Alexa Lampasona (Remensburg, N.Y.) slammed a kill on set point to cap a 25-16 set win for the Lady Jaspers.

The second set was the most competitive of the match, featuring 12 ties and six lead changes.  It was tight early before the Knights broke open a 9-9 tie with a four-point rally that gave them a 13-9 edge.  Manhattan responded with six of the next seven points to claim a 15-14 lead.  However, FDU countered the Lady Jaspers' run with a 5-0 rally of its own to regain a four-point lead at 19-15.  On the strength of back-to-back blocks by Welsh and Maddie Heck (Corte Madera, Calif.), Manhattan responded with a 7-0 run to go back in front 22-19.  After FDU rallied for three consecutive points to force a 22-22 tie, the sides were tied for the 12^th time in the set at 23-23.  A service error by the Knights' Violeta Slabakova brought Manhattan to set point, and Welsh capped the 25-23 win with her fourth kill of the frame.

Fairleigh Dickinson won the third set on the strength of nine aces.  The Knights never trailed in the set, as Kelsey Semler and Sarah Willey each had three aces in the frame.  After FDU took an 8-2 lead, the Lady Jaspers responded with three straight points to cut their deficit to 8-5, but the Knights scored 13 of the next 18 points to open up a 21-10 advantage.  Manhattan scored the next four points to pull within 21-14 before FDU tallied the last four points of the set.  Willey had back-to-back aces to end a 25-14 FDU win that sent the match into the fourth.

Just as the Knights dominated the third set, Manhattan dominated the fourth set from the get-go.  The Lady Jaspers opened up a 6-1 advantage on a Julie Bies (Massapequa, N.Y.) ace, then ran their lead to 15-6 on an ace by Laura Bellotti (Dix Hills, N.Y.).  After a pair of FDU points, Manhattan went on an 8-0 run with Jayne Timo (Holbrook, N.Y.) serving to go in front 23-8.  The Knights rallied for a pair of points before the Lady Jaspers finished off a 25-10 set win to claim a 3-1 victory in the match.  Fairleigh Dickinson hit -.125 (five kills, 10 errors, 40 attempts) in the fourth set.

Welsh was the only Lady Jasper to reach double figures in the kills column.  She didn't commit an error in 13 attempts, and added three blocks.  Casey Tidwell (Redlands, Calif.) hit .385, pounding six kills and making just one error in 13 swings.  As a team, the Lady Jaspers hit .210 (42-17-119).  Diane Strutner (San Jose, Calif.) tallied nine kills and 11 digs, while Bellotti collected 11 assists and 10 digs.  Aurore Kullak (Beloeil, Belgium) dished out 24 assists to go along with eight digs and four kills.  Bies recorded a match-high 18 digs, as Manhattan outdug FDU 68-52.

Meaghan Wheeler had a match-high 16 kills for the Knights.  Willey distributed a match-high 24 assists to go along with seven digs and three aces, while Semler notched a team-best 16 digs and four aces.  Ali Philbrick added 12 digs for FDU.  As a team, the Knights hit .092 (42-28-153) in the match.