EASTON, Pa. - Senior captain Jet Manzi recorded her first double-double of the season to help propel the Lafayette volleyball team past FDU 4-1 (26-24, 26-24, 8-25, 25-20) on Friday night in the Crosstown Tournament at Kirby Sports Center.
In four sets, Manzi tallied 18 kills, 13 digs and four aces. Manzi was constantly being fed the ball by setters Julia Howard and Maria Balus. Howard finished the game with 28 assists, while Balus notched 12. Junior Katie Kidder had a nose for the ball all night and totaled a team-high 21 digs in the Leopards' win.
The Leopards held a two-point lead in the early stages of the opening set, but it quickly faded as the Knights pieced together a 5-0 run. Once the Knights got the lead, they held onto it for most of the set and they even grabbed a six-point advantage.
The Knights were two points shy of taking the set, but the Leopards climbed back into the game with back-to-back kills from Manzi and three kills from freshman Maggie Shannon. Lafayette was a single point away from taking the set, however, FDU scored once more to knot the score up at 24 apiece.
Lafayette immediately responded with a timely kill from Manzi before taking the set 26-24 on an attacking error by a FDU player.
FDU got off to a hot start in the second set and led Lafayette 7-2. From that point forward, the two teams traded points as the Leopards were unable to put a dent into the deficit. Lafayette did eventually begin to chip away though in large part to the errors committed by FDU.
Once again, both teams were even at 24-24 before Sonia Musso put the set away for the Leopards with two straight kills.
For the third consecutive set, the Knights jumped out to a lead, but this time, they did not surrender it. A 21-6 run to begin the set put the Leopards in a tight spot and they were unable to climb out of it, eventually falling 25-8.
Both the Leopards and the Knights went back and forth in the fourth set before the Leopards began to pull away on an 8-3 run. The run was sparked by a booming Manzi strike and she added two more kills during that span.
The Leopards continued to take advantage of the Knights' mishaps on the court and after one final kill from Manzi, Lafayette took the fourth and final set after FDU committed an attacking error.
Lafayette will be back on the court on Saturday to continue play in the Crosstown Tournament. The Leopards will face off against Providence at 10 a.m. and then play against Saint Peter's at 3 p.m. at the Kirby Sports Center.
