Box Score
Box Score
JERSEY CITY, N.J. – After playing six out of eight at home, the Manhattan College volleyball team began a four-match road trip by visiting Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) rival Saint Peter's on Wednesday night. Facing Saint Peter's for the second time in 10 days, the Jaspers (13-10, 7-3 MAAC) completed their sixth consecutive season sweep of the Peacocks (3-17, 1-9 MAAC) with a 25-10, 25-23, 18-25, 25-19 victory at the Yanitelli Center.
The Jaspers scored four of the first five points in the match before Saint Peter's rallied to tie it at 5-5. However, Milena Janjusevic (Belgrade, Serbia) slammed a kill on the next point and Alyssa Rehrer (Lorton, Va.) followed with a service ace to spark a 5-0 Manhattan run that put the Jaspers in front 10-5. Manhattan extended its advantage to 20-9 on a Claire Van Dyk (New Richmond, Wis.) ace, and Janjusevic's sixth kill of the frame wrapped up a 25-10 win. The Jaspers hit a solid .367 (13 kills, two errors, 30 attempts) in the opening set.
Manhattan again jumped out to an early 5-1 cushion in the second set, but the Peacocks responded with a 5-1 run of their own to even the score at 6-6. After the Jaspers pulled ahead 11-8, Saint Peter's went on a 5-1 spurt to take a 13-12 lead. Casey Monroe (Riverview, Fla.) followed with a kill though, sparking a 7-1 Manhattan rally that put the Jaspers in front 19-14. Saint Peter's battled back within one at 22-21 before Manhattan rattled off two straight points to again push the margin to three, 24-21. On the Jaspers' third set point opportunity, Monroe smacked a kill to finish off a 25-23 win and put Manhattan up 2-0 in the match.
Saint Peter's used a 5-0 run early in the third set to turn a 9-9 tie into a 14-9 lead. The Jaspers got back within 16-14 before the Peacocks rattled off four straight points to push their margin back to six, 20-14. Manhattan scored the next two points to make it 20-16, but would get no closer, as Saint Peter's captured the third set, 25-18, to extend the match.
In the fourth set, the Peacocks raced out to a 6-3 advantage before an Ivana Kostic (Grocka, Serbia) kill sparked an 8-1 Jaspers run that gave the Jaspers an 11-7 lead. After Saint Peter's pulled within 13-11, Van Dyk ripped a kill to start a 9-2 rally, which was capped by a Rehrer ace that made it 22-13. The Peacocks scored six of the next seven points to cut their deficit to four, 23-19, but a Kostic kill set up match point, and she finished things off with an ace. Manhattan hit a combined .375 (18-3-40) in its 25-19 fourth-set win.
Three Jaspers recorded double-doubles in the victory. Janjusevic had a match-high 15 kills to go along with 15 digs, while Van Dyk finished with 10 kills, 15 digs and three aces. Jade Gray (Boise, Idaho), meanwhile, tallied 47 assists and 16 digs. Kostic registered 13 kills, including eight in the final set, and hit .379. Marissa Behrens (Honolulu, Hawaii) added nine kills on .368 hitting. Allie Yamashiro (Kapolei, Hawaii) recorded 16 digs and three aces, and Rehrer posted 10 digs and two aces. Manhattan outdug Saint Peter's 78-65 and served nine aces. As a team, the Jaspers hit .250 (58-19-156) in the match.
Lauren Behrens had a double-double for Saint Peter's with 10 kills and 19 digs. Marlena Budna flirted with a triple-double with 12 digs, nine kills and eight blocks, while Amanda Colombo finished with nine kills on .409 hitting. Kaitlyn Sitton notched 31 assists and nine digs, and Greta Varvell contributed 11 digs. Saint Peter's outblocked Manhattan 11-6 and hit .175 (47-20-154) as a team.
On Saturday, Manhattan begins its annual Western New York swing with a 2 p.m. matchup at Niagara (7-12, 4-5 MAAC). The Jaspers posted a 3-1 victory over the Purple Eagles at Draddy Gymnasium on Sept. 27.
