Manhattan University Athletics

TOWSON, Md. – The Manhattan College volleyball team played five sets for the first time this season on Saturday evening.  After Delaware State rallied to force a decisive frame, Marissa Behrens (Honolulu, Hawaii) slammed three of her career-high 12 kills in the final stanza to lead the Jaspers (3-1) to a 22-25, 25-16, 25-16, 23-25, 15-6 victory over the Hornets (0-3) in the Towson Invitational at SECU Arena.

Behrens slammed kills on the first two points of the match and three of the first six, as Manhattan built an early 5-1 lead in the first set.  The Jaspers extended the margin to 7-2 before the Hornets stormed back to take a 19-14 advantage.  A pair of Claire Van Dyk (New Richmond, Wis.) kills capped a 5-1 Manhattan rally that pulled the jaspers within one at 20-19, but Delaware State held on to take the first set by a 25-22 count.

In the second set, Delaware State quickly took a 3-0 lead before Manhattan used a 13-5 spurt to open up a 13-8 advantage.  After the Hornets trimmed their deficit to one at 15-14, Milena Janjusevic (Belgrade, Serbia) found the floor to start a 6-0 rally that gave the Jaspers a 21-14 lead.  Manhattan won the set, 25-16, to even the match.

Manhattan raced out to a 4-1 cushion in the third set, but Delaware State responded with eight of the next 12 points to go up 9-8.  However, the Jaspers then got two service aces from Jade Gray (Boise, Idaho) as part of a 6-0 run that put them in front 14-9.  With Manhattan leading 17-14, Ivana Kostic (Grocka, Serbia) pounded home a kill to start another 6-0 rally that made it 23-17, and a kill by Van Dyk finished off a 25-16 third-set triumph for the Jaspers.

There were 11 ties and three lead changes in the fourth set.  Manhattan used a 4-0 rally to turn a 7-7 deadlock into an 11-7 advantage, but Delaware State immediately countered with a 4-0 run of its own to tie the score at 11-11.  The Hornets eventually went up 23-20, forcing a Jaspers timeout.  Behrens recorded a kill out of the timeout and Van Dyk followed with another to make it 23-22.  Behrens then tied it with a block.  However, a kill by Jasmine Jackson brought Delaware State to set point at 24-23, and a Marisol Arredondo ace on the next point sent the match into a fifth set.

After a pair of Behrens kills gave the Jaspers an early 3-1 lead in the final stanza, the Hornets scored the next two points to even the score at 3-3.  However, back-to-back Janjusevic kills and a pair of Allie Yamashiro (Kapolei, Hawaii) aces highlighted a 6-0 run that put Manhattan up 9-3.  The Jaspers never looked back from there.  A Van Dyk kill set up match point at 14-6, and, fittingly, it was Behrens who ended it.  Her 12^th kill of the match found the back corner, as the Jaspers wrapped up the fifth set, 15-6, and the match, 3-2.

It was Manhattan's first five-set win since a victory over Niagara in the quarterfinals of last season's Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) Tournament.  The Jaspers are now 32-16 in five-setters under Head Coach Mark Jones.

Four Jaspers recorded double-digit kills in the victory.  Van Dyk had a double-double with 20 kills (on .318 hitting) and 13 digs, while Janjusevic finished with 14 kills and 10 digs.  Behrens tallied five blocks to go along with her 12 kills, and Kostic notched 11 kills and four blocks.  Gray, meanwhile, contributed 50 assists, eight digs and three aces.  Yamashiro added 21 digs and those two fifth-set aces.  As a team, Manhattan hit .212 (64 kills, 28 errors, 170 attempts) in the match.

Jasmine Jackson led Delaware State with 14 kills and 18 digs.  Jae Jackson finished with 11 kills and six blocks, while Jenessa Helu also had six blocks.  Alliyah McBean tallied 17 digs for the Hornets, who outdug the Jaspers 67-64.  Arredondo distributed 35 assists, as Delaware State hit .109 (43-28-138) as a team.