Manhattan Concludes Columbia Classic With Loss to Bryant

NEW YORK – In its final match of the Columbia Classic, the Manhattan College volleyball team (0-10) dropped a 25-19, 25-15, 28-26 decision to Bryant (4-8) on Saturday evening at Levien Gymnasium.  Olyvia Chaltas (Temecula, CA) was named to the All-Tournament Team after averaging 3.56 kills per set in the Jaspers' three matches.

There were five early ties in the first set before a Milena Janjusevic (Belgrade, Serbia) deadlock broke an 8-8 deadlock and started a 3-0 Manhattan run.  The Jaspers went up 15-11 on a block by Kenza Hall (Oakland, CA) and Zoe Lindsey (McHenry, IL), but the Bulldogs responded with an 11-2 rally to take a 22-17 lead.  Janjusevic and Ivana Kostic (Grocka, Serbia) slammed back-to-back kills to get Manhattan back within three, 22-19, before Bryant scored the final three points of the set to clinch a 25-19 win.

The Bulldogs took an 8-4 lead early in second set, prompting a Manhattan timeout.  The Jaspers scored the first three points out of the timeout to trim their deficit to one, 8-7, but Bryant countered with a 3-0 run of its own to make it 11-7.  After a block by Janjusevic and Marissa Behrens (Honolulu, HI) made it 12-10 Bryant, the Bulldogs rattled off four of the next five points to go up 16-11.  Leading 19-15, Bryant went on a 6-0 run to close out the set, 25-15, and move ahead 2-0 in the match.

Manhattan trailed 11-7 in the third set when a Janjusevic kill sparked a 9-3 run that put the Jaspers in front 16-14.  After Bryant tied it score at 17-17, the Jaspers rattled off three straight points to regain the lead, 20-17.  The Bulldogs eventually pulled ahead, 23-22, and reached match point at 24-23.  Chaltas slammed a kill to keep Manhattan alive, then ripped another to even the score at 25-25.  Bryant earned another match point at 26-25, but this time it was Hall that brought the Jaspers even.  The Bulldogs had match point again at 27-26, and this time Bryant converted, clinching the frame, 28-26, to wrap up a 3-0 victory.

Janjusevic just missed a double-double for the Jaspers, finishing with 11 kills and nine digs.  She also registered three blocks.  Chaltas added nine kills, while Kostic contributed seven kills and two blocks.  Allie Yamashiro (Kapolei, HI) tallied a match-high 17 digs, and Lindsey distributed 31 assists.  As a team, Manhattan hit .168 (38 kills, 17 errors, 125 attempts) in the match.

Bryant hit .319 (50-14-113) as a team, and five different Bulldogs hit over .300 individually.  Sara DePouw led the way with 15 kills, while Julia Flynn had 11 kills and Alexandra Lunsford posted 10 kills on .600 hitting.  Vika Katzen recorded a double-double with 23 assists and 14 digs, and Kirstyn Sperry handed out 24 assists.  Erica Vendituoli collected a team-high 15 digs, as Bryant outdug Manhattan 58-46.