Manhattan Gets By FDU In Five Sets

Box Score 

TEANECK, N.J. ? Entering Wednesday night's match, the Manhattan College volleyball team had alternated wins and losses in its last six matches.  The Lady Jaspers lost to Iona on Sunday, which meant that if form held, they would post a victory over Fairleigh Dickinson on Wednesday.  Manhattan (4-11) was indeed true to form, knocking off the host Knights (12-8), 25-21, 16-25, 25-15, 23-25, 15-12 at the Rothman Center.  It was Manhattan's first non-conference victory of the season and marked the third time this season the Lady Jaspers won a five-set match.

Manhattan took control of the first set with an 11-4 run that turned a 3-2 deficit into a 13-7 advantage.  FDU cut the margin to 14-12 before the Lady Jaspers tallied a pair of points to bring the lead back to four at 16-12.  The Knights got within one at 16-15 before Manhattan scored five of the next six points to increase its advantage to 21-16.  FDU was unable to pull any closer than three the rest of the set, and a kill by Jackie Kapovich (Downers Grove, Ill.) finished off a 25-21 set victory for Manhattan.

In the second set, it was all FDU.  The set was tied only once, at 2-2.  After that, the Knights rattled off the next three points to take a lead they would maintain throughout the remainder of the set.  Manhattan put together a small rally in the middle of the set that cut FDU's lead from 18-9 to 19-14, but three straight points by the Knights restored FDU's comfortable advantage.  The Knights hit .438 (16 kills, two errors, 32 attempts) in the set, which they won 25-16.

The Lady Jaspers returned to the “good side” and dominated the third set the same way FDU dominated the second.  FDU held an early 3-2 lead, but a 10-1 Manhattan run gave the Lady Jaspers a comfortable 12-4 advantage.  Manhattan head coach Jolie Ward used a timeout after the Knights pulled within 15-11, but the Lady Jaspers took four out of the next five points following the timeout to run the lead to 19-12.  After Jaci Rahey (West Milford, N.J.) earned a kill on a dig that went over the net and found open court in the back corner to give Manhattan a 21-13 lead, the Lady Jaspers closed the set on a kill by Rita Welsh (Collegeville, Pa.).  Manhattan took a 2-1 lead in the match with a 25-15 set win.

The fourth set was the most competitive of the match, as it featured 12 ties and six lead changes.  After FDU opened up a 9-6 lead, the Lady Jaspers rattled off the next five points, the last three of which came on three consecutive Kapovich kills.  FDU charged back to tie it at 13-13 and took a 17-15 lead on back-to-back service aces by Kelsey Semler.  Manhattan scored the next two points to make it 17-17, and the sides swapped points until it was 23-23.  FDU earned the first set point at 24-23 and only needed one opportunity.  With a 25-23 set win, the Knights sent the match into a decisive fifth set.

The Lady Jaspers scored the first two points of the final set before the Knights rallied for the next three to take the lead.  Manhattan scored the next point and regained the lead on an attack error by Jennifer Brugger.  FDU tied it back up at 4-4, but Manhattan responded with a 5-1 run to take command.  Manhattan got to match point when Rahey's kill made it 14-10.  After two failed opportunities, Welsh pounded her 12^th kill of the match to finish off the set, 15-12, and give the Lady Jaspers their first non-conference win since they defeated Hartford on Aug. 26, 2007.

Sherryta Stokes (Beltsville, Md.) posted a career-high 22 kills and hit .367 for the Lady Jaspers.  She added 14 digs for her ninth double-double of the season.  Kapovich chipped in with a season-high 15 kills and hit .481, while Welsh tallied 12 kills and eight blocks.  Alyssa Getzel (Richmond, Va.) recorded a season-high 54 digs and completed a double-double with 12 digs.  Andrea Reiff (Hawthorne, N.Y.) had a match-high 22 digs and Diane Strutner (San Jose, Calif.) added 16 digs for the Lady Jaspers, who out-dug the Knights 75-66.  Manhattan hit .225 (66-27-173) as a team in the match.

Lauren Boothby, who entered the match ranked 16^th nationally in kills per set, registered a match-high 22 kills for FDU.  She also recorded a team-high 19 digs.  Ali Philbrick and Karolina Kowalski also posted double-doubles for the Knights.  Philbrick had 10 kills and 12 digs, while Kowalski tallied 30 assists and 10 digs.  Semler returned 17 digs for the Knights.  As a team, FDU hit .156 (56-29-173) for the match.