Riverdale, N.Y. — Niagara held match point five times in the fifth set Friday night but couldn't finish it falling to Manhattan 3-2 (27-25, 22-25, 25-21, 17-25, 18-16) at Draddy Gymnasium in Metro Conference action.
The Purple Eagles fell to 1-13, 0-6 Metro, while the Jaspers improved to 3-14, 2-4 Metro.
First set: Manhattan 27, Niagara 25
The opening set was tied 12 times. Niagara opened with a Karlotta Kattai kill, but Manhattan took an early lead and went up 10-8. Niagara tied it at 10-10 on a block by Kattai and Jakayla Brown and then went in front 13-12 on a Kadee Goolsby kill.
The Purple Eagles pulled away late. Two straight points on Rottman's serve (a Manhattan ball-handling error and a Payton Lee kill) made it 17-14, and Niagara led by as many as four at 22-18 when the Jaspers made a bad set.
Manhattan scored nine of the last 12 points to put themselves back in the set. Katelynn Rottman tied it at 24-24, and Morreale's attack error put Niagara up 25-24. It was the last time the Purple Eagles led. Niagara made three straight attack errors to drop the first set 27-25.
Second set: Niagara 25, Manhattan 22
Paisley Ka'ahanui served the first six points, and four of them were aces. Rottman and Lee added kills, and Niagara had a 6-0 lead before Manhattan scored. The Purple Eagles pushed the margin to 14-8 when Kattai served an ace and set Rottman for a kill, and they led 17-11 after a Mikalah Curran attack error.
From there, Manhattan outscored Niagara 7-1 over eight points to tie it at 18-18. Lee made two straight attack errors, and Morreale served an ace to make it 18-18. Ka'ahanui got a kill to put Niagara up 19-18, but Manhattan came back to lead 21-19.
Niagara responded with the last four points. Kattai's kill tied it at 21-21, and after Kaczynska put Manhattan back up 22-21, she tied it again at 22. Rottman's kill made it 23-22, Kattai served an ace for 24-22 and Goolsby's kill ended it.
Third set: Manhattan 25, Niagara 21
The Purple Eagles took a 4-3 lead on a Rottman kill and went ahead 6-5, but Manhattan took control with a Kuzniar ace and an Anna Duncan ace to lead 10-7. Niagara trailed 11-8 before it started to climb back.
Trailing 12-10, Niagara scored the next four points, three of them on Noel Perkins' serve, and Goolsby had two kills during the run. A Manhattan service error then made it 15-13 Niagara.
Manhattan scored five straight to lead 18-15 Manhattan then blocked Goolsby and Rottman on back-to-back points to lead 21-16.
Manhattan's Laura Hernandez came in and made two straight attack errors to cut it to 21-18, but Duncan served an ace to make it 23-18, and the Jaspers held onto go up two sets to one.
Fourth set: Niagara 25, Manhattan 17
Niagara never trailed in the fourth set. Rottman and Ka'ahanui combined for a kill, Ka'ahanui served an ace and Manhattan made an error for a 3-0 lead. Niagara led 8-5 after Lee and Brown blocked Harris, and it led 11-6 after Brown and Goolsby blocked Curran. Kattai had an ace in the stretch, and her serve helped Niagara to a 10-6 lead.
Manhattan got back within 11-10 on four straight points, but Goolsby ended the run with a kill, and Niagara went back in front by four at 15-11.
Then Rottman went to the service line. She served six straight points from 17-12 to 22-12, and Kattai had three kills in the stretch. The other points came on a Manhattan error and a Jenkins kill that followed a block by Jenkins and Lee. Manhattan got four of the last six points but could not get close as the Purple Eagles forced a fifth and final set.
Fifth set: Manhattan 18, Niagara 16
Niagara fell behind 4-0 on kills by Powers and Karsyn Harris, a Lee error and a Manhattan ace, and it trailed 7-3 and 9-6. Niagara got to within 9-8 on a block by Goolsby and Jenkins and then an error by Powers, but Morreale had two kills to put the Jaspers up 11-9.
Niagara then scored five straight points. Ka'ahanui's kill cut it to 11-10, and Jenkins served four straight points, with two aces, a Kattai kill and a Powers error, for a 14-11 lead and the first of five Niagara match points.
Manhattan scored three straight to tie it. Montilla and Kaczynska had kills, and Kuzniar served an ace to make it 14-14. Kattai's kill put Niagara up 15-14 for another match point, but she was blocked by Montilla and Kaczynska at 15-15. Another Kattai kill made it 16-15, the fifth match point.
It was the last point Niagara scored. Kaczynska tied it at 16, Rottman made an attack error and Duncan ended the match with an ace.
Niagara Notes
Niagara is now 33-27 all-time against Manhattan
Four Purple Eagles tallied 10+ kills with Kattai leading the way with a career-high 19
Goolsby recorded a career-high 13 kills
Moreland achieved a career-high in digs with 17
Ka'ahanui recorded her third 20+ assist game of the season with 23
Up Next
Niagara wraps up the weekend against Iona Saturday October 10 at 2:00 pm in New Rochelle, NY.
