Philadelphia, PA — The Jaspers registered their first win of the season beating Le Moyne 3-1 in the opening game of the Penn Invitational on Friday afternoon. In the third set, the Jaspers pulled away from the Dolphins by scoring 9 straight points to turn the set in their favor. Manhattan also locked in for some key points down the stretch of the fourth to help clinch the win.
Manhattan never trailed in the first set en route to a 25-13 win. The Jaspers recorded 8 of the last 9 points and forced Le Moyne into 2 service errors to close out the opening set. Senior outside hitter Maike Bertens had 4 kills and sophomore outside hitter Mikalah Curran had 3 kills.
The second set was an up and down battle for the Jaspers. Ultimately, Manhattan couldn't overcome 9 ties and 6 lead changes as Le Moyne took the set 22-25.
After a back and forth start, Manhattan revved up their energy midway through the third set, turning a 9-11 deficit into an 18-11 lead all off junior setter Sarah Emmons' service. Eight of Manhattan's 9 points during that run came on errors from Le Moyne. Once again, Bertens and Curran proved too much to handle with 4 kills each in the third set.
Bertens found another gear in the fourth set, leveraging her experience and awareness of the moment to power Manhattan to a decisive fourth set victory. After Manhattan went up 22-18 on a big kill from Curran, the Dolphins battled back with 3 straight points but were stopped in their tracks on a ferocious kill from Bertens that painted the back right corner. The Jaspers would close out Le Moyne for good on a service ace from Emmons.
The Jaspers were led by 17 kills from Bertens and 16 kills from Curran. The pair added 14 and 15 digs, respectively. Emmons posted a season-high 40 kills, which marks the fourth game in her career with 40 assists or more. Le Moyne was beset by 27 attack errors and 9 service errors.
Coach's Reaction
"The first set we played like Manhattan volleyball should and we were never in trouble," said Manhattan head coach Mauro Miletic.
"There was never a doubt but unfortunately it was a little bit more difficult than expected."
"She's the leader of this team and I never coached somebody who can the ball like Maike can," Miletic said of Maike Bertens, who leads Manhattan with 92 kills through 7 games.
"This game things clicked with her and our big hitters," Miletic said of junior setter Sarah Emmons and her 40 assists in game 1.
Next Time Out
Manhattan will be live again tonight when they battle Penn (2-2) at the Palestra. The action will be streamed on ESPN+ at 7 p.m. ET.
