Nov. 12, 2005
Final Stats
Siena battled through inconsistent play to pull out a hard fought MAAC win it desperately needed Saturday afternoon, knocking off Manhattan 3-2. The Saints claim sole possession of second place in the MAAC with the win, a spot they will hold for the MAAC Tournament should they finish their regular-season with a victory over Saint Peter's on Sunday.
Nadiege Honore led four Siena (17-11/6-2) players with double figure kills with 17, bouncing back from a sluggish first game to contribute down the stretch. Senior Christa Glenn killed 12 of her 22 attacks (.500) and setter April London had 55 assists and a.500 attack percentage to pace the Green and Gold.
"This was a do-or-die game for us, and I'm proud with the poise we showed down the stretch to pull out the win," head coach Garvey Pierre said. "Now we need to finish the regular-season the right way tomorrow and carry this momentum into the Tournament."
Manhattan (17-16/5-4) was led by Maggie Pfeifer with a match high 23 kills. Megan O'Dorisio contributed 19. The Jaspers were eliminated from MAAC Tournament contention by virtue of the loss.
Middle blocker Janine Pesusich continued her strong play for Siena with 11 kills and a .500 attack percentage. The Saints hit .223 on the match and limited the Jaspers to a .137 attack percentage.
The Saints stormed out to a 30-21 win in the first game, but Manhattan responded with a convincing 30-26 score in the second. Siena got back on track in the third game, posting a .593 attack percentage in an easy 30-15 win, but the Jaspers showed grit and forced a fifth game with a 30-24 win in the fourth. In the decisive game, Siena held a slim 8-7 advantage when the two teams switched sides, but expanded its lead with solid front row defense en route to a 15-11 triumph.
The Saints had 14 blocks in the match compared to just five for Manhattan. Pesusich was in on seven of those rejections.
Freshman libero Kathi Kobayashi was the usual suspect atop the Saints dig board with 24. Kobayshi keyed several Siena rallies with precision approaches to London at the net.
Siena closes out its season tomorrow with a 2 p.m. match against Saint Peter's in the ARC. The Siena senior class of Liz Hubbard and Glenn will be honored before the match.
