NEW YORK, N.Y. – The University of Scranton volleyball team (16-11) split a pair of matches with the Manhattanville Valiants (18-11) and No. 7 NYU Violets (26-4) in non-conference action on Sunday afternoon at the Brooklyn Athletic Facility.
Scranton opened the day with a 3-0 victory over Manhattanville before dropping a 3-1 decision to the Violets.
Scranton 3, Manhattanville 0 (25-19, 31-29, 25-20)
The Royals grabbed an early 12-6 lead in the first set following a service ace by junior Gianna Detorie (Rumford, R.I./Bishop Feehan), but the Valiants then battled back to cut the lead to one at 15-14. Fellow junior Sophia Hadjiyane (Huntington, N.Y./John Glenn) recorded a pair of kills as part of three straight points for the Royals and sophomore Deanna Whelpley (Congers, N.Y./Immaculate Heart Academy) later closed out the 25-19 victory with an ace.
In the second set, Manhattanville led 14-9 before Scranton fought back to even things at 15 apiece and eventually took a 20-18 lead on an attack error. Trailing 24-21, the Royals once again responded with four straight points to take a 25-24 lead for the time being. The two teams traded points for the remainder of the set before junior Erin Keaveney (Collegeville, Pa./Villa Maria Academy) came through with a kill and a solo block to seal the comeback win.
Scranton controlled play for much of the third set and held a 13-6 advantage following consecutive kills by Whelpley and Keaveney. However, the Valiants would not go quietly and fought back within two on three different occasions including 22-20 before three straight points by the Royals finished the sweep.
Whelpley tallied 13 kills to lead the Royals offensively, while Keaveney added 10 and Hadjiyane and senior Stephanie Margolies (Westfield, N.J./Westfield) recorded eight apiece. Detorie posted 18 assists to help set up the attack and freshman Cammi Quirk (Oakland, N.J./Ridgewood) added 16 of her own.
Sophomore Maddie Forry (Reading, Pa./Exeter Township) had 17 digs for Scranton and Whelpley came through with 15.
NYU 3, Scranton 1 (20-25, 22-25, 25-22, 14-25)
The Royals battled throughout the first set despite an early deficit and cut the lead to one at 19-18 following a kill by Whelpley and a Violets' service error, but NYU then took six of the final eight points in the 25-20 win.
The two sides traded points for much of the second set in a back-and-forth affair and the set was tied at both 19 apiece and 22 apiece before the Violets recorded the final three points to seal the 25-22 victory.
NYU held a 15-11 edge in the third set when a service error ignited a seven-point run for the Royals and Whelpley capped things off with a kill that made it 18-15. After the Violets cut the deficit to one at 23-22, a kill by Keaveney and a Violets' attack error sealed the 25-22 victory for Scranton.
Things were even at nine apiece in the early stages of the fourth set, but NYU then used a kill by Grace Nelson to start a run of nine straight points and an 18-9 lead en route to the 25-14 victory.
Whelpley had 15 kills to pace the Royals and Keaveney had 13, while Detorie (19 assists) and Quirk (18 assists) once again teamed up to help facilitate the attack. Margolies added seven kills and five service aces in the match.
Forry led the way defensively with 14 digs and Whelpley registered 13 for her seventh double-double of the season.
The Royals have earned the No. 2 seed in this week's Landmark Conference Tournament and will host the winner of No. 3 Elizabethtown/No. 6 Drew in semifinal action on Thursday night at 7 p.m.
--ROYALS--
