Box Score
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RIVERDALE, N.Y. - The Manhattan College volleyball team got a Halloween treat on Sunday afternoon, and made history in the process. For the first time since the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) adopted the double round-robin format for volleyball in the 2006 season, the Lady Jaspers completed a season sweep of Siena. After the Saints rallied to force a fifth set, Manhattan (14-13, 7-7 MAAC) hit .435 (11 kills, one error, 23 attempts) in the final frame to claim a 23-25, 25-14, 25-21, 21-25, 15-7 victory over Siena (6-18, 5-9 MAAC) at Draddy Gymnasium. It was the Lady Jaspers' first home win over the Saints since Nov. 7, 2004, and second victory in a row against a Siena team that had won nine straight against Manhattan entering this season.
In a tightly contested first set that included 10 ties and five lead changes, the teams traded early runs. Manhattan pulled out to a 5-1 lead before a 9-2 Siena run put the Saints in front 10-8. The Lady Jaspers rallied for three straight points to go back ahead, 11-10, before Siena responded with a 7-2 rally to take a 17-13 lead. Manhattan again battled back, however, and tied the score at 20-20 on a kill by Maddie Heck (Corte Madera, Calif.). The Lady Jaspers took a 23-22 advantage on a block by Heck and Jamie Collareta (Islip Terrace, N.Y.), but Siena scored the final three points to capture the set, 25-23.
After the sides traded the first 14 points of the second set, Manhattan broke it open, using a 9-1 run to turn a 7-6 deficit into a 15-8 edge. Siena pulled back within 16-12 before the Lady Jaspers used another 9-2 rally to take the set, 25-14. The Lady Jaspers hit a robust .435 in the second set, slamming 12 kills and making just two errors in 23 attempts.
Siena took an early 3-0 advantage in the third set, but Manhattan immediately fought back to tie the score at 4-4. However, the Saints scored four of the next six points to go back ahead, 8-6. With Siena leading 14-11, a LaKell Havens (St. George, Utah) kill sparked a 5-1 Manhattan rally that gave the Lady Jaspers a 16-15 lead. Siena took the next point to tie it at 16-16, and the score was knotted again at 17-17 and 18-18 before a 4-0 Manhattan run put the Lady Jaspers in front 22-18. A Diane Strutner (San Jose, Calif.) kill brought the Lady Jaspers to set point at 24-20, and a block by Havens and Jaci Rahey (West Milford, N.J.) secured a 25-21 set win. Manhattan continued its hot hitting in the third set, making just three attack errors and hitting .375 (15 kills, 32 attempts).
The Saints raced out to a 7-1 advantage in the fourth set. However, Manhattan rallied for 11 of the next 15 points to pull ahead, 12-11. After a Rahey kill made it 15-13 in favor of the Lady Jaspers, Siena went on a 9-3 run to take a 22-18 lead. Manhattan pulled within 22-20 on a Collareta service ace, but the Saints won the set 25-21 to extend the match into the fifth.
The Lady Jaspers took control of the fifth set from the start, jumping out to a 5-1 lead and never looking back. Manhattan's only hitting error in the set came when Heck was blocked to make it 13-7, but kills by Strutner and Alexa Lampasona (Remensburg, N.Y.) followed, giving the Lady Jaspers the victory with a 15-7 fifth set win.
"I think it was important for us to come back in the fifth set," Head Coach Mark Jones said. "We got a few points on them, and all of a sudden everything just seemed to click. We had a lot of great defensive plays down the stretch and we were able to put the ball away on the outside. That's what we do best. We played really great defense and only had one hitting error, and if you can do that in the fifth set, you're going to win that fifth set."
Strutner recorded her third straight double-double with 16 kills and a team-high 20 digs. Rahey pounded a team-high 18 kills on .424 hitting, while Lampasona added 14 kills and hit .414. Havens posted 10 kills and six blocks, and Heck tallied eight blocks, as the Lady Jaspers outblocked the Saints 14-6. Collareta just missed a double-double with 55 assists and nine digs, while Julie Bies (Massapequa, N.Y.) registered 15 digs. Kelsey Huntoon (Monroe, Mich.) notched 10 digs, as Manhattan outdug Siena 69-66. Overall, Manhattan hit .270 (64-20-163) as a team.
Taylor Akana had a match-high 23 kills and added 18 digs for Siena. Aubrey Bobo also had a double-double with 17 kills and 13 digs, while Brittany Lintelman posted 12 kills and four blocks. Sarah Sivertson handed out 55 assists and hit .500, recording five kills and not committing an error in 10 attempts. Lesli Akeo registered a match-high 22 digs for the Saints. As a team, Siena hit .198 (64-30-172) in the match.
Manhattan continues its three-match homestand with a pair of matches that conclude the home schedule next weekend. The Lady Jaspers host Fairfield (10-16, 9-5 MAAC) at 3 p.m. on Saturday, then take on Rider (2-22, 1-13 MAAC) at 2 p.m. on Sunday. Prior to the Rider match, the Lady Jaspers will honor the program's four seniors: Strutner, Rahey, Aurore Kullak (Beloeil, Belgium) and Jayne Timo (Holbrook, N.Y.).
Due to technical problems, there was no JasperVision webcast of the match. The Manhattan Athletic Department apologizes for the inconvenience.
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