Riverdale, NY - Manhattan will begin play at the Penn Invitational on Friday, with an opening game vs. Le Moyne (0-3) at 1 p.m. ET and then a duel with host UPenn (2-2) at 7 p.m. ET. The two-day event takes place at the historic Palestra on the campus of the University of Pennsylvania.
WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW
-Manhattan will play a total of 3 games in Philadelphia spread across 2 days. Day 2 on Saturday will feature a match-up between the Jaspers and Morgan State (1-7) at 2 p.m.
-The Jaspers opponents in Philadelphia have an average winning percentage of 21 percent, with Penn being the only .500 team at 2-2.
-Despite dropping their first 6 games, Manhattan is coming off their best performance of the season versus Syracuse. After falling behind 2-0, the Jaspers pounced on the Orange in the 3rd set to pull out a 25-21 win after getting off to a 6-1 start in the set. In the 4th set, Manhattan battled hard to fend off six match points, showing incredible grit against the undefeated Orange.
-The Jaspers have seen strong play of late from senior outside hitter Maike Bertens, sophomore outside hitter Mikalah Curran, and sophomore right-side hitter Laila Glover. The trio of hitters combined each recorded double-digit kill totals in the loss to Syracuse (Glover 14, Bertens 11, Curran 11).
-Bertens leads Manhattan with 75 kills (3.57 kills per set) this season while sophomore setter Sarah Emmons is top in assists with 119 assists (7.93 assists per set).
