RIVERDALE, NY – The Manhattan Jaspers' Men's Volleyball program (2-2, 0-0 NEC) took down the Lakers of Roosevelt University (2-2, 0-0 GLVC) in straight sets (25-16, 25-13, 25-14) in front of a raucous Draddy Gymnasium crowd on Friday night.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- Opening its home debut were the Jaspers, who did so in front of nearly one thousand fans on the University's campus.
- Trailing 6-4 were the Green and White, before Jovan Marjanovic's first kill of the night kick-started the Draddy crowd, to eventually give the Jaspers their first lead behind three straight Lakers' attempt errors.
- With the score knotted at 13, the Jaspers took advantage of three consecutive Laker errors to, once again, go in front.
- On the offensive side and earning its own points were the Green and White, courtesy of Wojtek Nowak, who gave his team a much-needed three-point margin.
- From that point, the Jaspers, and more specifically, Blake Perkins, took a five-point lead to the end to secure the opening set with three consecutive service aces.
- In the second set at 3-3, it was Marjanovic who logged another kill off a perfect setup from Drew Blonski to leap back in front one more time.
- The Jaspers then posted their best 7-0 run to widen their margin to a new program-best 11-point advantage behind Owen's kill.
- After securing the first two sets by taking the final three points of the most recent stanza, both teams traded points to open the third set.
- Logging a service error was Drew Blonski, but Kasen Owens, with three straight points, allowed the Jaspers to continue to mount points on Roosevelt.
- Midway through the third set, the Jaspers went into overdrive with six consecutive points in front of the Draddy crowd, before the Lakers called a timeout.
- Closing out the contest was Sam Morreale with a pair of kills to capture the program's second victory.
STATS AND NOTES
- The Men's Volleyball team and Manhattan University welcomed prospective students while hosting the very first "Blackout" Night and James Patterson's Honors Program students.
- Sophomore outside hitter Kasen Owens logged seven kills on 16 total attempts on the evening, while pacing the match with four service aces, three block assists, and four digs for a total of 12.5 points.
- Junior outside hitter Wojtek Nowak added seven kills on 11 attempts for a match-high .455 hitting percentage, two set assists, two service aces, and five digs for 10 points.
- Freshman middle blocker Jovan Marjanovic logged six kills on as many attempts, with one service ace, and four block assists for nine points.
- Freshman outside hitter Kai Patchell posted five kills on nine attempts for the second-best hitting percentage of .444 on the night. Patchell stood tall for six blocks and one dig for 10 points.
- Freshman opposite Blake Perkins registered four kills on 14 attempts, with three aces, three block attempts, and two digs for 8.5 points.
- The Jaspers logged 56 points, compared to 27 for Roosevelt. Manhattan also posted 12 aces in total, with 11 blocks. Eight more than its opponent.
QUOTES FROM THE JASPERS
Head Coach Chris Schortgen on the emotions of the day: "We're focused on competing first and foremost. We have some stuff to do, but as you can see we have lots of friends, family, recruits all in attendance tonight from here, out of state, feels like from everywhere. Of course community support too. It's just amazing to see all of this come to life after a year of building."
On the atmosphere of Draddy Gymnasium: "It's a team effort. There's a lot of people behind the scenes here at Manhattan. Administration, admissions, and we're just really happy the way things turned out tonight inside Draddy."
On the things that worked tonight on the service line, et al: "I think it's given us so much confidence that the work we're putting in, is working. We've worked all off season and fall semester, and now the boys have a chance to compete, and see what's working and what isn't. Tonight and so far, have been super gratifying for us."
NEXT UP
The Jaspers are back in action tomorrow, Saturday, January 24, when the Green and White head to take on the Pioneers of Sacred Heart University for a primetime 8 p.m. opening serve inside the William H. Pitt Center. The contest can be viewed on ESPN+ with a paid subscription.
Follow Manhattan Men's Volleyball on X and Instagram (@ManhattanMVBall).
