Jaspers Come Back to Beat St. Francis Brooklyn In Five

RIVERDALE, N.Y. – During Mark Jones's five seasons as head coach of the Manhattan College volleyball team, the Jaspers have played some of their best volleyball in fifth sets.  Wednesday night was no exception.  Manhattan (3-1) fell behind two-sets-to-one before battling back to force a fifth, then capped off the comeback, notching a 20-25, 25-19, 15-25, 25-14, 15-9 victory over St. Francis Brooklyn (1-3) in its home opener at Draddy Gymnasium.

After falling behind 2-1 in the match, Manhattan began the fourth set with four consecutive points.  The Terriers pulled within 7-4 before the Jaspers went on a 3-0 rally to bring their lead back to six at 10-4.  St. Francis Brooklyn got back-to-back blocks to make it 11-8, but Ellie Wiekamp (Laguna Niguel, Calif.) slammed a pair of kills to spark a 4-0 run that pushed Manhattan's advantage back to 15-8.  The Terriers once again chipped away, trimming their deficit to 15-12 after a pair of service aces by Kamalei Clifton.  However, another Wiekamp kill on the next point started a 7-1 spurt that brought the Jaspers within two points of winning the set, and Manhattan forced a decisive frame by taking the fourth set by a 25-14 count.

The sides traded points early in the fifth set.  With the score knotted at 8-8, Jade Gray (Boise, Idaho) and Anna Kitlar (Kiel, Germany) teamed up for a block to give Manhattan the lead.  Sydney Volovski (Oswego, Ill.) and Wiekamp each followed with a kill, and Gray's ace that made it 12-8 forced St. Francis Brooklyn to take timeout.  The Terriers scored the next point to temporarily halt the rally, but kills by Volovski and Malia McGuinness (Kailua, Hawaii) set up match point, which Volovski put away with her fourth kill of the set (and 12^th of the match).  Manhattan won the fifth set by a 15-9 margin.

“One of our team goals is to win every fifth set,” Wiekamp said.  “So we knew, coming from behind, that we were going to have to fight for it.  Especially in the first home game, it was good to see that fight in everyone.”

“We really kept our composure when we were down,” Jones said.  “There are a couple things you have to do in the fifth set.  You have to pass well and cut down on unforced errors.  I think we did that.  I'm excited about how we fought back and got the W in the end.”

In the first set, St. Francis Brooklyn used a 10-3 run to turn an 8-7 lead into a comfortable 18-10 advantage.  The Terriers reached set point at 24-17, but Manhattan fought off three straight opportunities before St. Francis Brooklyn closed out the set, 25-20.  The Terriers hit a solid .368 (18 kills, four errors, 38 attempts) in the opening stanza.

Manhattan battled back in set two.  St. Francis Brooklyn jumped out to a 14-8 cushion, but the Jaspers responded by claiming 16 of the next 19 points, going up 22-17 on Sarah Haselhorst's (Naperville, Ill.) ace.  After Manhattan reached set point at 24-19, Wiekamp slammed a kill to wrap up the set, 25-19, and even the match at 1-1.

St. Francis Brooklyn scored the first five points of the third set and maintained that advantage throughout the frame.  The Terriers' lead reached eight points at 12-4 before Wiekamp smashed a kill, then teamed with Katelyn Nugent (Auburn, Wash.) on a block to pull the Jaspers within six, 12-6.  However, it would get no closer, as St. Francis Brooklyn hit .400 (13-3-25) in the set, posting a 25-15 win to take a 2-1 match lead.

“We struggled with our consistency a little bit (in the first three sets),” Wiekamp said.  “But in the end, slowing it down and going back to the basics really helped us come back for the win.”

Wiekamp posted match-highs with 17 kills and 20 digs.  McGuinness added 12 kills and eight digs, while Erin Weis (Omaha, Neb.) tallied eight kills and four blocks.  Gray distributed 35 assists to go along with three aces, six digs and three blocks.  Teodora Peric (Chicago, Ill.) registered 13 assists, and Allie Yamashiro (Kapolei, Hawaii) collected 16 digs, as the Jaspers outdug the Terriers 70-60.  As a team, Manhattan hit .209 (54-23-148) and recorded seven aces.

Domenique Gerard paced the Terriers with 15 kills, while Niehely Sosa added 10 kills on .625 hitting.  Clifton handed out 26 assists and Kelly O'Halloran dished out 18 assists.  Feliz Ramirez had 20 digs and Slavica Stefanovic posted 11 digs for St. Francis Brooklyn.  The Terriers hit a combined .128 (51-31-156) as a team.