Sept. 22, 2010
Box Score
RIVERDALE, N.Y. - Senior co-captain Katrina Racibarskas returned to the lineup at smashed a team-best 11 kills, but the Lafayette volleyball team fell at Manhattan on Wednesday by a score of 3-0. The host Jaspers took the match by set scores of 25-13, 25-21 and 25-22.
With the loss, the Leopards fall to 4-9. Manhattan notches its sixth consecutive victory to improve to 7-5.
Racibarskas, who missed last weekend's Lafayette College Invitational due to injury, hit a scorching .421 (11-3-19) to lead the Leopards' offense. Her fellow co-captain, senior Kayly Elmer, narrowly missed a double-double with nine kills and nine digs. Junior Alana Taylor added seven kills to go along with a match-best four blocks, and sophomore Kaitlynn Zoller rounded out the offensive effort with three kills. Freshman Molly Belcher ran the offense and assisted on 27 of Lafayette's 30 kills.
Defensively, Elmer and freshman libero Mackenzie Larsen fortified the back row with nine digs apiece. Belcher had six digs from the setter spot as well as two blocks. The Leopards were out-dug by the Jaspers, 47-36, and each team notched four total blocks.
Lafayette continued to serve tough, led by four services from freshman Karissa Ciliento. Racibarskas, who eclipsed 100 career aces earlier this season, added two more to her impressive career mark. Elmer and junior Christy Mebust each landed one service ace to bring the Leopards' total to eight compared to six winners by Manhattan.
Lafayette was unable to gain momentum in the first set, as the Jaspers sided them out at a 78% (11-14) rate. Manhattan posted two separate 5-0 runs in the frame en route to a 25-13 win.
The Leopards jumped out in front in set two, grabbing the first five points. Lafayette would hold a seven-point edge at 11-4, but Manhattan responded in kind immediately with a 7-0 spurt to knot the score at 11-11. The deadlock held up to 20-20, but a trio of Lafayette attack errors in the closing stretch of action gave the Jaspers a 2-0 lead in the match with a 25-21 set-two victory.
Manhattan started the third set in command, racing out to a 12-7 lead to force a Lafayette timeout. The five-point cushion held up to a 17-12 tally, when a blocking error cut the deficit to four and gave service back to the Leopards. At that point, a power outage in Draddy Gymnasium stopped play for 10 minutes. When the lights came back on, Ciliento reeled off three straight aces to bring the Leopards within one point at 17-16. Lafayette would pull even at 19-19, but a five-point spurt soon brought the score to match point for the Jaspers at 24-20. The Leopards fought off a pair of potential match points, but the third attempt gave the match to the home team via a third set score of 25-22.
The Jaspers were led by a double-double from Diane Strutner, who posted 11 kills and 11 digs. LaKell Havens also had 11 kills with a .500 hitting percentage, and Alexa Lampasona added 10 kills for Manhattan. Jamie Collareta distributed 36 assists from the setter slot.
The Leopards are back in the action on Friday, as Patriot League play begins at Holy Cross. First serve from Worcester, Mass. is scheduled for 7 p.m.
