Sept. 20, 2015

Final Stats | Photo Gallery

Siena dug deep to fight past a late Manhattan charge in a key 3-1 MAAC win Sunday afternoon in Loudonville. Siena got a match-high 16 kills on the outside from Briana Flagg, 14 on the right side from Sonja Vasovic, and 12 in the middle from Samantha Pethokoukis.

Pethokoukis delivered the winning point, a strong finish off a tight feed from setter Haley Howell. The dramatic ending followed the point of the match when libero Kalehua Katagiri made a sprawling dig, and Howell made a precise over the shoulder set to Vasovic who secured the penultimate point with a ferocious kill.

Howell was on top of her game, distributing 41 assists to go along with five kills, five blocks and seven digs. She controlled the action despite playing without starting middle Christina Monroe, and injured freshman outside Darby Taylor.

Siena's serving was also a clear difference in the match. The Saints had five aces, but several servers kept the Jaspers out of sequence much of the afternoon.

Siena pulled away late for a 25-19 win in the first set and a 25-20 win in the second to take a 2-0 lead at intermission. Manhattan sprinted to a 6-0 lead, and fought back a Saints' rally, to post a 25-17 win in the third.

Siena led 10-2 in the decisive fourth set, but Manhattan scored 12 of the next 15 points to grab a 14-13 lead. The set was dead tight the rest of the way, and tied at 21-21, before the Saints showed the fight of a champion.

Manhattan got 13 kills and 20 digs from Claire Van Dyk, and setter Jade Gray contributed 39 assists, 10 digs and six kills.

Siena libero Kalehua Katagiri led all players with 21 digs. Bobbi Lin Kalama joined Van Dyk and Manhattan libero Allie Yamashiro with 20.

The Saints hit the road the next two MAAC weekends before returning home to face Fairfield October 10.