Purchase, NY – Manhattaville's Ayla Ruiz collected 14 kills and served up seven aces as the Valiants swept Montclair State, 3-0 in a non-conference matchup at the Kennedy Gymnasium on Thursday evening.
Hannah Pena and Alejandra Figueroa added eight and seven kills, respectively as Manhattanville took the match 23-19, 25-23, and 23-17. The Valiants (5-1) snapped a two-match losing streak to MSU winning for just the third time in 17 all-time meetings.
Senior CARLY WATERMAN had 10 kills for the Red Hawks (2-6).
MSU led 17-15 in the first set before Manhattanville reeled off six consecutive points behind the serving of Ruiz, who had three aces in the run with Figueroa recording a pair of kills. MSU answered with back-to-back points pulling within 21-19 however, the Valiants ended the set with the final four points capped off by an ace from Grace Ballagas.
The second set saw Montclair trail 21-19 but the Red Hawks ran off three in a row to jump in front. Manhattanville took back the lead after a block and kill from Ruiz before a Waterman kill knotted the set back up at 23-23. The Valiants regained the lead on an MSU service error and took a 2-0 lead as Ruiz registered an ace on set point for the 25-23 win.
Manhattanville jumped out to a 9-3 lead in the third set widened its advantage to 14-6 on a Ruiz kill. The Red Hawks trimmed the lead back to 16-13 on a block by Waterman and GIANNA ARIAS. But the Valiants scored five of the next six points pulling out to a 21-14 lead. A block by Arias and NICOLE NAVARRO cut the deficit back to 21-17 before Manhattanville closed out the set and match with the final four points.
VICTORIA TENNON and KIARA POLANCO had four kills apiece. Polanco led the way with 14 digs while KATELYN MONAGHAN totaled 10. Arias had five blocks.
Montclair State is back home at the Panzer Athletic Center on Saturday, September 18 for a tri-match. The Red Hawks will face Farmingdale State at 1:00 pm and meet New Paltz at 5:00 pm. New Paltz and Farmingdale battle in the middle match at 3:00 pm.
