New York, NY - The John Jay women's volleyball team was back in The Doghouse on Saturday afternoon for a non-conference tri-match, their second last home tri-match of the season.
The Bloodhounds welcomed the Manhattanville University Valiants and the Sarah Lawrence College Gryphons to Manhattan, with the Skyline Conference foes facing off in the second match of the day.
John Jay took the Valiants to the brink with five sets, before blanking Sarah Lawrence to close out the day.
MATCH ONE - John Jay 2 | Manhattanville 3
The Bloodhounds took the court on a good foot, picking up a first-set win, 25-21. The home side took command of the opening frame at the midway point, jumping ahead with a 7-1 run to push the lead to 19-11. John Jay's attack was in its most efficient form in the first set, finishing with 15 kills.
Josanne Lewis capped off the first set with her fifth kill and secured a 25-21 win to kick off the match.
A strong stretch at the net by Julia Stuart and Paige Sadowitz put the Bloodhounds ahead 10-7 in the second set; the pair accounted for three blocks in a five-point span. The Valiants attack woke up as the set wore on, finishing the second frame on a 13-3 run. Ayla Ruiz accounted for four of the nine kills to end the game. Manhattanville capped the set with a 25-16 win.
The blocking duo of Stuart and Sadowitz were key again in the third set, helping their team get out to an 11-5 lead from the start. Manhattanville struggled to get out from under a match-high ten attack errors in the set, falling behind by as many as eight points.
Manhattanville clawed its way back into the match systematically, through its high-intensity attack, anchored by Ruiz and Loren Hernandez. Those two combined for ten kills in the third frame, as the Valiants scored at a 2:1 down the stretch, taking the lead, 24-23.
The Bloodhounds hunkered down after conceding the lead, as Lewis and Malia Reyes answered with back-to-back kills and a Valiant attack error clinched the 26-24 third set win.
The Valiants' attacking duo of their own took control in the fourth set. Ruiz and Hernandez racked up eight kills as the visitors outscored John Jay 14-8 after trailing 11-12 and forcing a fifth set.
John Jay came out flat in the deciding set, combining for seven total errors. Manhattanville put up eight kills to secure the five-set victory to start the day.
Josanne Lewis registered a season-high 16 kills, 17 points and 2 total blocks in the five-set battle.
MATCH TWO - John Jay 3 | Sarah Lawrence 0
The Bloodhounds attack found its footing in the final match of the day, averaging over 13 kills a set, and hitting .252 as a team.
John Jay got out to an 11-4 advantage in the first set, thanks in part to three aces by Kristen Gretener and Julia Stuart. Reilly Catan contributed a chunk of her 13 kills on the day as the Bloodhounds extended their lead out to 20-12. Sadowitz and Lewis clinched the opener with the final two kills of the first set. The Bloodhounds finished the win out, 25-18.
An early Gryphons lead did not last long, as the 7-4 advantage was wiped out with six straight points by the Bloodhounds. Malia Reyes, who stepped in to serve, inked a pair of aces to help her team take a 10-7 advantage. Catan finished the second set with six kills and combined with four successful swings by Nina Bongiovanni, helped the home side to another 25-18 win.
A set of fresh faces entered the match to start the third, including Rylea Sandel, Leah Kaplan and Theresa Schmitt.
Sandel scored the first two points of the set with a pair of swings and Catan helped put the Bloodhounds in front, 7-2. Misplayed balls racked up for the Gryphons as errors pushed the John Jay lead to 13-6. The jumbled group took more time to find their offensive rhythm, allowing Sarah Lawrence to claw back and tie the match at 24-all. The veteran outside Catan stepped up when it mattered; burying the match point on a ball from Hannah Knox to secure the third set, 26-24.
Catan hit a season-high 13 kills in the win, converting at a .244 rate. Alex Overkamp scored a new career-best two blocks and added three kills. Meghan Smith finished with a double-double, logging 19 assists and 10 digs.
NEXT UP: The Bloodhounds continue their six-match homestand, taking on crosstown foe Pratt on Thursday, Oct. 3. The match is scheduled to begin at 7:00 p.m. in The Doghouse.
