Box Score
Box Score
EASTON, PA – The Manhattan College volleyball team is on a roll. Despite dropping the first set, the Jaspers (3-10) rallied to post an 18-25, 25-15, 25-23, 25-7 triumph over the host Leopards (2-7) in their second match of the Lafayette Invitational at the Kirby Sports Center on Saturday morning. Manhattan has now won three straight overall.
After Manhattan scored the first point of the match, Lafayette rattled off four straight to go up 4-1. The Jaspers tied it at 7-7 on a kill by Sandra Lozanova (Pernik, Bulgaria), but the Leopards responded with a 5-1 spurt to regain a 12-8 lead. Manhattan pulled within two at 17-15 before Lafayette claimed eight of the final 11 points to take the set, 25-18.
In the second set, the Jaspers raced out to an 8-3 cushion. After Lafayette cut the margin to three at 9-6, Manhattan countered with an 11-3 run, extending its advantage to 20-9 on an Allie Yamashiro (Kapolei, HI) service ace. The Leopards scored five of the next seven points to pull within 22-14 before the Jaspers closed out the set, 25-15, to even the match.
There were five ties and three lead changes in the third set. Manhattan built an early 12-6 lead on a Marissa Behrens (Honolulu, HI) kill, but Lafayette scored seven of the next 10 points to pull within two, 15-13. After the Jaspers pushed the margin back to five points at 18-13, the Leopards came all the way back, tying the score at 20-20. Milena Janjusevic (Belgrade, Serbia) responded with back-to-back kills, though, to make it 22-20 in favor of Manhattan. Lafayette rallied for three straight points to go in front, 23-22, then a Lozanova kill tied it. Two Lafayette hitting errors followed, giving the Jaspers a 25-23 set win and a 2-1 lead in the best-of-five contest.
It was all Manhattan in the fourth set. The Jaspers hit a whopping .483 (15 kills, one error, 29 attempts) as a unit and gave up consecutive points only once during the period. Manhattan scored five of the first six points and opened up a 13-3 advantage on a block by Ivana Kostic (Grocka, Serbia) and Lozanova. The lead reached 23-5 on a Janjusevic kill before a kill by Lozanova wrapped up the frame, 25-7, and Manhattan's third consecutive four-set win.
Three different Jaspers recorded double-doubles in the victory, led by Janjusevic's 16 kills and 15 digs. Lozanova registered 11 kills and 16 digs, while Zoe Lindsey (McHenry, IL) had 37 assists and 15 digs. Kostic hit .323 in the match, slamming 13 kills and committing just three errors in 31 attempts. Yamashiro posted 21 digs to go along with seven assists, and Alyssa Rehrer (Lorton, VA) added 20 digs. Manhattan outdug Lafayette 94-76 and notched a team hitting percentage of .211 (52-18-161).
Elizabeth Walsh tallied 16 kills on .302 hitting to pace Lafayette. Julia Howard had a double-double with 18 assists and 11 digs, while Maria Balus added 16 assists. Katie Kidder led five Leopards in double figures with 18 digs. Tori Smith collected 15 digs and Jet Manzi posted 12 digs. Sonia Musso, meanwhile, recorded 11 digs. As a team, Lafayette hit .124 (39-19-161) in the match.
Manhattan concludes the tournament later on Saturday with a 6 p.m. matchup against NJIT (6-6). The Highlanders defeated Lafayette 3-1 on Friday night before taking on St. Francis Brooklyn earlier on Saturday.
