Box Score
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RIVERDALE, N.Y. - After notching a thrilling five-set victory at Canisius on Sunday afternoon, the Manhattan College volleyball team returned to the place it feels most comfortable on Tuesday night-Draddy Gymnasium. And the Jaspers certainly enjoyed the comforts of home. Five different players hit .333 or better and the Jaspers (11-6) hit .311 (44 kills, 12 errors, 103 attempts) as a unit in a dominating 25-19, 25-13, 25-18 victory over St. Francis (NY) (1-20).
"I think it's confidence and just being comfortable on the court," Head Coach Mark Jones said about the team's success at Draddy Gymnasium this season. "The expectation is very high. We know that good things are going to happen at home."
The Jaspers took control from the start, getting blocks from LaKell Havens (St. George, Utah) and Mariana Furquim (Curitiba, Brazil) on each of the first two points, then a service ace from Kelsey Huntoon (Monroe, Mich.) that made it 5-1. After a Havens kill put Manhattan up 18-11, St. Francis (NY) scored six of the next 10 points to get within five, 22-17. However, kills from Furquim and Havens brought the Jaspers to set point, and Manhattan put away the set, 25-19, to take the early lead in the match.
Manhattan scored the first six points of the second set before St. Francis (NY) fought back within two at 8-6. After a Manhattan timeout, a kill by Hollegn Henderson (Long Beach, Calif.) ignited a 12-3 Jaspers run that made it 20-9. The Jaspers reached set point on a kill by Malia McGuinness (Kailua, Hawaii), then wrapped up the 25-13 set win on a Furquim ace. Manhattan hit .321 (13-4-28) in the second set, while St. Francis (NY) hit -.032 (7-8-31).
After Manhattan jumped out to a 3-1 advantage in the third set, the Terriers rallied to take their first lead of the match, 6-4. St. Francis (NY) still led, 10-9, before an Alexa Lampasona (Remsenburg, N.Y.) kill started a 7-0 spurt that gave the Jaspers a 16-10 advantage. Manhattan extended its lead to 20-12, but the Terriers again battled back within five at 22-17. That's as close as it would get, though, as Manhattan won three of the final four points to take the set, 25-18, and finish off the 3-0 victory. The Jaspers hit .318 (18-4-44) in the third set.
Lampasona slammed a match-high 11 kills on .333 hitting, while Furquim pounded 10 kills and hit .391. She also tallied three blocks and an ace. McGuinness notched nine kills, and Havens added seven kills and five blocks. Henderson had a double-double with 33 assists and 11 digs. Huntoon registered a team-high 14 digs to go along with five assists and two aces. Julie Bies (Massapequa, N.Y.) collected 10 digs, as the Jaspers outdug the Terriers 48-42. Manhattan also held a 6-1 blocking advantage.
Marina Georgieva recorded nine kills to lead the Terriers. Kamalei Clifton finished with 15 assists and six digs, while Naomi Flinders tallied nine assists, five digs and four kills. Feliz Ramirez registered a match-high 15 digs to go along with four aces. Overall, St. Francis (NY) hit .093 (31-21-107) in the match.
Manhattan resumes Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) play with a pair of road matches this weekend. The Jaspers (4-1 MAAC) visit Fairfield (8-8, 5-1 MAAC) at 2 p.m. on Saturday, then visit local rival Iona (7-7, 4-2 MAAC) at 4 p.m. on Sunday.
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