Box Score
Box Score
NIAGARA UNIVERSITY, NY – On Sunday afternoon, the Manhattan College volleyball team concluded its annual trip to Western New York with a matchup at Niagara. The Jaspers (5-16, 2-6 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference) were unable to come away with the victory, though, as the Purple Eagles (7-13, 5-3 MAAC) registered a 25-22, 25-20, 17-25, 25-19 triumph at the Gallagher Center.
Niagara jumped out to a 4-1 lead in the opening set before the Jaspers went on a 10-4 run to open up an 11-8 advantage. The Purple Eagles scored five of the next seven points, though, to tie it at 13-13. With Niagara leading 20-17, a Marissa Behrens (Honolulu, HI) kill started a 3-0 Manhattan spurt that evened the score again at 20-20. After the teams traded points to make it 21-21, the Purple Eagles ended the set on a 4-1 spurt to claim a 25-22 win.
After Niagara went up 4-2 in the second set, Manhattan used an 8-2 rally to go ahead 10-6. The Purple Eagles eventually pulled even at 14-14, and it would be tied three more times before Niagara broke a 17-17 deadlock with a 6-1 run that made it 23-18. With a 25-20 second-set win, the Purple Eagles took a 2-0 lead in the match.
The Jaspers scored the first three points of the third set, then, after Niagara tied it at 5-5, a kill by Milena Janjusevic (Belgrade, Serbia) started a 10-3 spurt that put Manhattan up 15-8. Another Janjusevic kill extended the margin to 21-12, and the Jaspers captured the set by a 25-17 count. Manhattan hit .394 (15-2-33) in the third set.
In the fourth set, the Purple Eagles used an early 6-0 run to open up an 11-6 advantage. Manhattan trimmed its deficit to one at 12-11 before Niagara scored three straight points to bring the margin back to four, 15-11. After a Behrens kill brought the Jaspers within 19-16, the Purple Eagles rattled off four straight points to go up 23-16. Niagara closed out the set, 25-19, to snap its nine-match losing streak against Manhattan and send the Jaspers to their fourth straight defeat.
Mary Donnelly (Temecula, CA) led the Jaspers with 12 kills. She added 14 digs to complete her first career double-double. Taylor Hasley (Memphis, TN) also recorded the first double-double of her career with 42 assists and 11 digs. Janjusevic ripped 11 kills without an error in 27 attempts to hit .407, while Ivana Kostic (Grocka, Serbia) posted a .583 hitting percentage, smacking seven kills on 12 errorless attempts to go along with five blocks. Allie Yamashiro (Kapolei, HI) contributed a match-high 21 digs, and Alyssa Rehrer (Lorton, VA) tallied 14 digs, as the Jaspers outdug the Purple Eagles 76-66. As a team, Manhattan hit .225 (47-16-138) in the match.
Madison Mills smashed 14 kills for Niagara, while Nicole Matheis had a double-double with 13 kills and 17 digs. Draik Banks registered 10 kills and four blocks, and Alexis Gray finished with 39 assists, 12 digs and three service aces. Taylor Kelly served four aces, as Niagara held a 10-3 edge in that category. Rylee Hunt collected 15 digs for the Purple Eagles, who hit .223 (54-19-157) as a team.
Manhattan returns home for the only time in a five-match span on Wednesday night, when Fairleigh Dickinson (2-20) visits Draddy Gymnasium at 7 p.m. in the Jaspers' final non-conference match of the season.
