Riverdale, NY — The Jaspers dropped Wednesday night's home match-up with Iona 3-0. After dropping the first set, Manhattan experienced a revival that saw them take a 15-6 lead in the second set before the Gaels fought back to eventually win sets 2 and 3.
Iona came out of the gates hot, scoring 5 of the first 7 points of the match to take an early lead. However, the first set proceedings would soon turn into a tug of war and featured 6 lead changes. Manhattan held a 13-10 lead in the set but it soon evaporated as Iona rode a trio of 6-0, 3-0 and 3-0 runs to take the set, 25-20. Manhattan dropped the final 3 points on attack errors.
In the third set, Iona was once again the aggressor, finding a way to muster points to throttle any hope of a Manhattan run. The Jaspers drew to within one at 21-20 after Iona lost their challenge disputing Abby Morreale's spike as a net violation, and Manhattan consequently tied the third set at 21 following an attack error by Wiggins. Nevertheless, the Gaels were able to hold off the Jaspers by taking the last 4 points of the third set.
Senior outside hitter Maike Bertens notched her fifth double-double of the season with 10 points and 10 kills. Freshman libero Lizzy Kovach came through with 9 digs in the loss.
Iona was guided by Wiggins' 11 kills and 13 digs and Mija Jegers' 13 kills and 9 digs. The Gaels were also boosted by 32 assists from Jaylyn Simon.Next Time Out
Manhattan now hit the road for 4 straight games against Siena, Marist, Quinnipiac and Merrimack. The Jaspers will face Siena on Saturday, Oct. 5 at 2 pm before heading down to Poughkeepsie to play Marist at 1 pm on Sunday. Both games will be streamed live on ESPN+.
Follow Manhattan Women's Volleyball on Instagram and X, @jaspersvb.