Riverdale, NY — Manhattan dropped a 3-0 decision to Fairfield on Sunday afternoon at Draddy Gym. The Jaspers were unable to slow down a Stags' attack that went for 51 kills on a 41.2 percent success rate.
After dropping the first two sets, 25-15 and 25-17 respectively, Manhattan saw improvement in their kill numbers in the third set but not enough to take the Stags to a fourth set. The third set had a tight complexion, with Manhattan jumping out to a 3-2 and 6-5 leads. But as Fairfield showed throughout Sunday's match, it was the Stags who owned the game of runs, using a 7-1 spurt to create enough separation from the Jaspers in the third and final set.
The Jaspers held early leads in each set, including the wobbly first set when Fairfield overcame a miniscule 10-9 deficit to take 16 of the next 21 points. The Stags continued their modus operandi of finding the opposite hardwood by using a pair of kills from Janna Schlageter and another from Maya Walker to put the Jaspers away in the first set.
Manhattan experimented with a new rotation in the third set, registering a pair of kills from sophomore outside hitter
Katie Powers and four assists from freshman setter
Hunter Kwan. The Jaspers were led by last season's All-MAAC Second Team recipient
Maike Bertens who finished the match with 10 kills. Defensively, freshman libero
Lizzy Kovach led the way with 6 digs.
Fairfield was paced by Mikayla Haut's 12 kills and 10 digs and Abby Jandro's 23 assists.
Manhattans falls to 0-2 in MAAC play while Fairfield improves to 2-0.
Next Time Out
Manhattan will wrap up this three-game homestand with a match-up with Iona (2-8, 0-2 MAAC) on Wednesday night at 7 pm. The game will be streamed live on the Jaspers Sports Network.
Follow Manhattan Women's Volleyball on Instagram and X, @jaspersvb.
