Box Score
RIVERDALE, N.Y. - It's a good thing the Manhattan College volleyball team played their share of five-setters early in the season, because the Lady Jaspers had that experience to fall back on when it mattered in their Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) opener on Saturday. After Manhattan won the first two sets, Rider (2-10, 0-1 MAAC) stormed back to force a fifth before the Lady Jaspers (5-6, 1-0 MAAC) pulled through for a 25-19, 25-23, 23-25, 12-25, 15-9 victory at Draddy Gymnasium. It was Manhattan's sixth straight win over the Broncs.
The Lady Jaspers jumped out to a quick 4-2 lead in the first set before Rider rallied for the next five points, prompting a Manhattan timeout. Manhattan scored the next three points to tie it at 7-7, then a 4-0 Rider run put the Broncs back in front, 11-7. After Rider extended its lead to 16-11, a block by Rita Welsh (Collegeville, Pa.) and Diane Strutner (San Jose, Calif.) ignited an 8-1 Manhattan rally that gave the Lady Jaspers a two-point lead, 19-17. The Broncs tied the score at 19-19, but Manhattan scored the final six points of the set to claim a 25-19 win and take a 1-0 lead in the match.
Manhattan carried its momentum into the second set, opening up a 4-1 lead on another block by Welsh and Strutner. However, Rider responded to tie it at 4-4, and eventually opened up a 10-7 lead. After the Lady Jaspers scored the next three points to force a 10-10 deadlock, the Broncs again built a three-point cushion at 15-12. Manhattan then went on a 7-2 spurt and claimed a 19-16 advantage on a kill by Jaci Rahey (West Milford, N.J.). The Lady Jaspers reached set point when a Strutner kill made the score 24-21, and Manhattan needed two opportunities before closing out the set, 25-23, to take a 2-0 match lead into the locker room for intermission. Manhattan hit an impressive .314 (14 kills, three errors, 35 attempts) in the second set.
The third set started similarly to the first two, as Rider scored the first two points, then Manhattan scored the next three to take the lead before Rider rallied back to tie it at 4-4. After the Broncs went in front 7-6 on a kill by Katelyn Thompson, Manhattan responded with a 5-1 run, and opened up an 11-8 advantage on a block by Strutner and Maddie Heck (Corte Madera, Calif.). The teams then traded three-point spurts to make it 14-11 in favor of the Lady Jaspers and prompt a Rider timeout. Following the timeout, the Broncs went on a 5-0 run to take a two-point edge, 16-14. After Manhattan came back to force a 17-17 tie, Rider scored four of the next five points to regain a lead it would not relinquish. The Broncs reached set point at 24-21, and the Lady Jaspers fought off two opportunities before Rider put away the set, 25-23, and extend the match.
The fourth set was all Rider. Manhattan scored the first point on a Julie Bies (Massapequa, N.Y.) service ace and led again at 2-1 and 3-2 before the Broncs seized control. A 5-1 Rider run gave the Broncs a 7-4 lead and prompted a Manhattan timeout. The Lady Jaspers scored the next point to close within two, but Rider hit a blazing .452 (17-3-31) in the set and cruised to a 25-12 win. The Broncs scored 10 of the last 11 points, including the final seven, to close out the set and send Manhattan into the fifth for the fourth time this season.
In the final set, Manhattan jumped ahead 2-0 before three straight Rider points gave the Broncs a 3-2 lead. The momentum then swung back towards Manhattan, as the Lady Jaspers scored the next two points to go back in front, 4-3. After Rider tied it 4-4 on Kristy Love's kill, Welsh pounded back-to-back kills to put Manhattan up by two and force the Broncs to call timeout. The Lady Jaspers led from that point forward and increased their lead to four points when Laura Bellotti's (Dix Hills, N.Y.) kill made it 10-6. Manhattan hit .316 (9-3-19) in the 15-9 fifth-set victory to even its 2009 five-set record at 2-2. With the win, the Lady Jaspers moved to 1-0 in the MAAC for the first time since 2005.
Manhattan was led by Welsh's 14 kills on .375 hitting and seven blocks. Rahey and Strutner each added 13 kills, and Strutner completed a double-double with 12 digs. Bellotti also had a double-double with 24 assists and 10 digs, while Bridget Call (Roberts, Wisc.) distributed a season-high 16 assists. Bies recorded seven digs to go along with a career-high three aces. The Lady Jaspers hit .176 (49-22-153) as a team.
Thompson slammed 21 kills and added 11 digs for Rider, as the Broncs held a 65-49 advantage in the kills department and outdug the Lady Jaspers 73-63. Briana Wallace and Kristy Love each tallied 12 kills for the Broncs, while Amy Jeary posted a match-high 23 digs. Tara Hansen added 11 digs, and Elyse Grassmuck had 12 digs to go along with 43 assists and four blocks. As a team, the Broncs hit .174 (65-34-178) in the match.
The Lady Jaspers' first MAAC road trip of the season is a quick one, as Manhattan heads to Jersey City, N.J., to visit Saint Peter's (2-8, 0-0 MAAC) at 2 p.m. The Peahens got their MAAC season underway at Marist on Saturday.
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