Manhattan Suffers First MAAC Loss Against Siena

LOUDONVILLE, N.Y. – Last season, the Manhattan College volleyball team defeated all of its Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) opponents except one.  Siena beat the Jaspers three times in 2014, including a win in the semifinals of the MAAC Tournament.  In the first meeting between the squads since that match, the defending MAAC champion Saints (5-6, 2-0 MAAC) again came out on top, posting a 25-19, 25-20, 17-25, 25-23 victory over the Jaspers (7-7, 1-1 MAAC) at the Alumni Recreation Center on Sunday afternoon.

In a back-and-forth first set, Manhattan jumped out to a 4-1 cushion before Siena countered with five straight points to go up 6-4.  After the Jaspers took a 9-7 advantage, the Saints went on a 5-1 run to regain the lead, 12-10.  A Sydney Volovski (Oswego, Ill.) kill capped a 5-1 spurt that put Manhattan back in front 15-13, but Siena responded by claiming nine of the next 11 points to grab a five-point edge, 22-17.

The Saints held on to take the first set by a 25-19 count, then opened up a 9-3 lead to start the second set.  Manhattan rallied to tie it at 10-10, but Siena scored seven of the next 10 points to regain a four-point advantage, 17-13.  After the Jaspers took the next two points to get back within two, 17-15, Siena went on another 7-3 spurt to reach set point, and the Saints took a 2-0 lead in the match with a 25-20 second-set win.

Needing to win the third set in order to extend the match, the Jaspers scored the first six points of the stanza.  Siena rallied to take an 11-9 lead, but Manhattan responded with a 5-1 run, opening up a 14-12 advantage on a Marissa Behrens (Honolulu, Hawaii) kill.  With the Jaspers up 19-17, a kill by Ivana Kostic (Grocka, Serbia) started a six-point rally that ended the set, as a block by Kostic and Jade Gray (Boise, Idaho) wrapped up a 25-17 win for Manhattan.  The Jaspers hit a solid .375 as a team in the third set, smashing 18 kills and committing just three errors in 40 attempts.

Siena scored the first four points of the fourth set and led 10-2 before Manhattan went on a 12-3 run to take a 14-13 advantage.  The Saints responded with a 5-1 spurt to go up three, 18-15, but the Jaspers again countered.  However, after Manhattan rallied to tie the score at 21-21, the Saints scored the next two points to regain the lead, and Siena took the set, 25-23, to secure its fifth consecutive win over the Jaspers in Loudonville.  The Saints have won four straight and eight of their last 10 against Manhattan.

Claire Van Dyk (New Richmond, Wis.) had her second straight double-double for the Jaspers.  She finished with 13 kills and 20 digs.  Gray also recorded a double-double with 39 assists and 10 digs.  She added six blocks.  Kostic, meanwhile, tallied seven kills on .353 hitting to go along with eight blocks, and Milena Janjusevic (Belgrade, Serbia) contributed seven kills and 10 digs.  Allie Yamashiro (Kapolei, Hawaii) collected 20 digs and Alyssa Rehrer (Lorton, Va.) notched 13 digs for Manhattan, which hit .175 (51-22-166) as a team.

For the Saints, Briana Flagg posted a double-double a match-high 16 kills and 12 digs.  Sonja Vasovic added 14 kills, while Sam Pethokoukis finished with 12 kills and seven blocks.  Haley Howell distributed 41 assists to go along with five kills, seven digs and five blocks.  Siena outdug Manhattan 77-74, with Kalehua Katagiri tallying a match-high 21 digs and Bobbi Lin Kalama recording 20 digs.  As a team, the Saints hit .197 (53-22-157) in the match.