Newburgh, N.Y. – The Mount Saint Mary College Women's Volleyball team dropped its seventh straight decision on Tuesday following a 23-25, 24-26, 9-25 loss to visiting Manhattanville. Senior Morgan Burke (Ringwood, N.J.) and freshman Grace Riddle (Wantagh, N.Y.) led the offensive attack with 10 kills each.
 
A spirited first set saw the Mount jump in front 13-7 following a Danielle Guarasci (Plainview, N.Y.) winner that capped a four point run for the Knights. The Knights maintained the lead until a four-point spurt from the visitors evened things at 18-18.
 
Manhattanville surged in front 24-20 before the Knights climbed to within 24-23 with a pair of kills from Danielle Kralik (Bedford Hills, N.Y.) and a service ace from Alyssa Barbara (Islip Terrace, N.Y.). Alejandra Figueroa finished things off for the visitors with a kill that put Manhattanville up 1-0.
 
The second set started in the same fashion as the opener, with the Mount pushing in front 7-3 on another Barbara ace and then 11-7 on a kill from Burke. The two teams traded runs until the Valiants overcame a 24-23 deficit with a Figueroa winner and back-to-back Mount Saint Mary miscues.
 
In the third, Manhattanville never trailed and used a 10-0 run to grab a 21-7 lead. The Mount scored consecutive points in the frame just once, on back-to-back kills from Burke to get the Mount to within 3-2 early in the frame, but Figueroa put away two of the final three points to give the Valiants their sixth conference win in as many outings.
 
Burke reached double-figures in kills for the second time in the last three matches, closing the match hitting .348 in 23 attempts. She added a block and a service ace for the Knights on the evening.
 
Riddle continued her strong rookie season, posting double-figures in winners for the fourth straight outing. She finished off a solid all-around night with nine digs for the Mount to go along with a service ace.
Kralik put away eight winners and lifted two digs for the Mount, while Guarasci and Renee Hydo (Bethpage, N.Y.) put away four kills apiece. Hydo added eight digs for the Mount, with Guarasci posting a block.
 
Emily Mazzurco (Middletown, N.Y.) handed out 29 assists and Barbara lifted a team-high 14 digs to go along with a pair of assists and two aces.
 
Manhattanville was led by 18 kills and a .361 attack percentage from Austen Brauer with Figueroa finishing up with 12 winners and eight digs. Vanca Vital totaled 28 assists for the Valiants and led all players in the match with 15 digs.
 
Overall, Manhattanville finished with a slim 40-36 advantage in kills, but committed 10 fewer attack errors on its way to hitting .306 in the match. The Valiants took a 7-4 advantage in service aces while total team blocks in the contest were even at 2-2.
 
Tuesday's loss drops Mount Saint Mary to 7-15 overall on the season and to 2-4 in Skyline Conference play. Next up for the Knights is a trip to St. Joseph's-L.I. for a 12:00 p.m. contest with the Golden Eagles on Saturday afternoon.