Final Stats

EASTON, Pa. -- The Lafayette volleyball team dropped a pair of games to Manhattan and St. Francis (NY) on Saturday in the Lafayette Invitational at Kirby Sports Center.

Game 1: Lafayette 1, Manhattan 3 (25-18, 15-25, 23-25, 7-24)

Elizabeth Walsh continued to stay hot on the court and finished the contest with a team-high 16 kills for the Leopards. Sophomore Maria Balus and freshman Julia Howard shared the setting duties and combined for 34 of the team's 37 assists.

Five different Leopards recorded double-digit digs against the Jaspers, including Howard, who tallied a double-double with 18 kills and 11 digs.

Lafayette began its final day of the Lafayette Invitational with a 4-1 run that included kills by Balus and Walsh. Manhattan countered with a 3-0 run and within time, the two teams were neck and neck. While the Jaspers were cutting into the small deficit, the Leopards turned to Walsh and she delivered by racking up four straight kills to extend the Leopards' lead.

Lafayette commanded a three-point advantage before going on a 6-2 run to close the set and grab the win. In the second set, the Jaspers offense erupted and poured on the points early and often. After the early stages of the set, Manhattan ran away with its lead and won 25-15.

The third set was a back and forth battle. The Jaspers held a five-point lead, but after committing two straight errors and allowing Tori Smith to tally a kill, the Manhattan lead was trimmed to two. The Jaspers' lead went back to four, however, Walsh and Carly Kutschke combined for three kills on a 4-0 run to even the score.

Despite taking a 23-22 lead after two kills by Walsh and a Manhattan error, the Jaspers managed to close out and win the set with a 3-0 run.

Leading 2-1 in the match, the Jaspers found a groove and went on a 23-5 run to start the fourth set before finishing things off to claim the 25-7 set victory.

Game 2: Lafayette 1, St. Francis (NY) 3 (25-21, 23-25, 18-25, 19-25)

The Leopards closed out the Lafayette Invitational with a loss to St. Francis (NY). Senior captain Jet Manzi led the team with 12 kills and 21 digs, while Walsh added 10 kills of her own. Balus was solely in charge of the setting responsibilities in this game and recorded 29 assists to go along with 10 digs.

After falling behind 6-1 to start the first set, the Leopards began to chip into the deficit. Manzi, Walsh and Smith picked their spots and came up with some timely kills to keep Lafayette in the game. A 10-2 run by the Leopards gave the Maroon and White a 19-14 lead.

Following a couple of St. Francis attack errors and a pair of service errors, the Leopards took the first set 25-21.

The second set was a close one all the way to the end. Trailing 22-19, Lafayette called a timeout and immediately out of the break, the Leopards scored on three consecutive errors by the Terriers. Lafayette made it a one-point game after Manzi tallied a kill, but the Terriers held off the Leopards' attack and took the set 25-23.

In the second set, the Terriers jumped out to a 13-4 lead. Lafayette worked to climb back into the set, but was unsuccessful and St. Francis won 25-18.

The fourth and final set played out in similar fashion. The Terriers had an early 13-6 lead, but Lafayette made it a two-point game after back-to-back attacking errors by St. Francis.

The Terriers called a timeout leading 19-17 and went on a 6-2 run to win the set and the match.

Lafayette will be back on the court on Wednesday, Sept. 21 for its first Patriot League game of the 2016 season at Lehigh at 7 p.m.

Lafayette Invitational All-Tournament Team:
Allie Yamashiro -- Manhattan
Milena Janjusevic -- Manhattan
Adriana Nieto -- NJIT
Mikalah Hughes -- NJIT
Macy Kurtz -- St. Francis (NY)
Elizabeth Walsh -- Lafayette