Manhattan-UC Santa Barbara Box Score
Manhattan-California Box Score
BERKELEY, Calif. - The Manhattan College volleyball team knew that its season-opening trip to California would be a tough one. Playing against a pair of opponents that reached the NCAA Tournament last season, the Lady Jaspers (0-2) dropped both of their matches on Saturday. In the season opener on Saturday afternoon, Manhattan fell to UC Santa Barbara (1-1) 25-19, 25-9, 25-19. No. 11 California (2-0) then knocked off the Lady Jaspers by a 25-8, 25-15, 25-7 count on Saturday night at Haas Pavilion.
In the afternoon match against UC Santa Barbara, the Lady Jaspers fell into an early 5-1 hole in the first set and were unable to recover. Trailing 14-7, Manhattan put together a 6-1 rally to get within two at 15-13, but the Gauchos responded with a 6-1 run of their own to push their advantage back to seven points, 21-14. UC Santa Barbara wasn't challenged after that and held on to win the set by a 25-19 margin.
The Gauchos jumped out to a 7-1 lead in the second set and never looked back. UC Santa Barbara extended its lead to 19-4 before the Lady Jaspers went on a 5-3 run to make it 22-9. The Gauchos then won the next three points to close out a 25-9 set win. UC Santa Barbara hit .353 (14 kills, two errors, 34 attempts) in the second set, while Manhattan hit -.030 (6-7-33).
After a back-and-forth start to the third set, UC Santa Barbara went on a 4-1 run to turn a 4-4 tie into an 8-5 advantage. The Lady Jaspers scored the next two points to make it 8-7, but the Gauchos again responded, pushing their lead to 12-8. Manhattan got within one again at 14-13 before a 5-1 UC Santa Barbara run effectively put it away. The Gauchos won the third set by a score of 25-19 to wrap up a 3-0 victory in the match.
Diane Strutner (San Jose, Calif.) led the Lady Jaspers with eight kills. She also tallied 12 digs. Playing her first match in a Manhattan uniform, LaKell Havens (St. George, Utah) notched five kills, while Maddie Heck (Corte Madera, Calif.) added four kills. Julie Bies (Massapequa, N.Y.) registered a match-high 13 digs and Jamie Collareta (Islip Terrace, N.Y.) finished with 17 assists and eight digs. Overall, Manhattan hit .030 (23-20-100) in the match.
Charlene DeHoog was the only player to reach double-digits in kills, posting 11 for the Gauchos. She also had four blocks. Kara Sherrard added nine kills and nine digs, while Stacey Schmidt had eight kills and seven blocks. Lily Lopez notched seven kills and hit .583, not committing an error in 12 attempts. Chelsey Lowe recorded a team-high 12 digs, as the Gauchos outdug the Lady Jaspers 48-46. Dana Vargas just missed a double-double for UC Santa Barbara, tallying 29 assists and nine digs. The Gauchos hit .267 (44-13-116) as a team and outblocked the Lady Jaspers 13-2.
In Manhattan's second match of the day, the host Golden Bears, a team that reached the quarterfinals of last season's NCAA Tournament, showed why they're ranked 11th in the nation. California hit .341 (39-9-88) in the match en route to a 3-0 victory.
The Golden Bears quickly jumped out to a 7-1 lead in the first set before Manhattan scored three of the next four points to make it 8-4. However, California responded with 14 of the final 18 points to win the set by a 25-8 count. California made just one error in the entire set, hitting .458 (12-1-24). Manhattan, on the other hand, was held to -.094 (6-9-32) hitting.
California scored the first two points of the second set, but the Lady Jaspers rallied back to tie the score at 3-3. The Golden Bears responded with a 6-1 run to pull ahead 9-4, but Manhattan again fought back, rallying for six of the next eight points to make it 11-10. However, California won the next four points to prompt a Manhattan timeout with the Golden Bears up 15-10. California then used a 6-0 run to turn a 17-13 lead into a 23-13 advantage before wrapping up the set, 25-15.
Manhattan scored the first point of the third set to take its first lead of the match, but the Golden Bears quickly responded, pulling in front 3-1. California took control of the set from there, running out to a 15-5 advantage. After a Strutner kill pulled the Lady Jaspers within 15-6, California registered 10 of the final 11 points, wrapping up the third set, 25-7, to finish off a 3-0 match victory. The Golden Bears hit .469 (17-2-32) in the third set.
Havens led the Lady Jaspers with five kills against California, while Strutner and Alexa Lampasona (Remensburg, N.Y.) each tallied four kills. Bies recorded 13 digs and earned a place on the All-Tournament Team. Collareta dished out 16 assists. Overall, Manhattan hit -.031 (18-21-96) in the match.
Tarah Murrey and Carli Lloyd each had a double-double for the Golden Bears. Murrey tallied match-highs with 11 kills and 14 digs, while Lloyd notched 26 assists and 12 digs. Correy Johnson finished with five blocks (including three solos) to go along with seven kills. California outdug Manhattan 47-34 and outblocked the Lady Jaspers 10-4. The Golden Bears hit a combined .464 (29-3-56) in the first and third sets.
Manhattan returns to the East Coast for the St. John's Classic next weekend. The Lady Jaspers take on the host Red Storm (3-1) at 4 p.m. on Friday, then take on Denver (1-2) and St. Francis (NY) (1-2) on Saturday.
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