Sept. 3, 2000

Box Score

Villanova, Pa.--On September 3, Villanova women's volleyball was defeated by the Manhattan College Lady Jaspers 3-0. The Lady Jaspers made quick work of the Wildcats winning 15-12, 15-9, 15-6.

Entering the game Villanova believed they had a chance to defeat Manhattan College. The Lady Jaspers attack percentage was a mere .093 in their first three matches. While the Wildcats weren't much higher at .141, Villanova figured to have an advantage. The advantage was the return of seniors Lisa Trumbull (Rockford, Ill./Keith School) and Tina Zitterich (Ames, Iowa/Gilbert). Both players stepped up, but not enough. Manhattan out hit Villanova .267 to .156. The disparity proved to be the difference in the match.

In game one, Manhattan came out early and began hitting well. The Lady Jaspers took advantage of several Villanova passing errors and gained a 6-2 lead. The Wildcats stayed focused and rattled off 5 straight points. Zitterich highlighted the run with a thunderous kill to even the score at 6-6. With a 7-6 lead the Wildcats stumbled, allowing Manhattan to score 6 of the next seven points. Two perfectly called timeouts by Lady Jaspers coach Pete Volkert stopped two Villanova scoring runs and vaulted Manhattan to the game one win.

Game two started in a positive fashion when senior Breen Eddinger (Tacoma, Wash./Bellarmine Prep) served two aces to place Villanova ahead early. The Lady Jaspers fought back with an ace and a kills to secure a short-lived 2-2 tie. The Wildcats began to pick their play up with two powerful kills from Trumball and Zitterich. Manhattan was not phased as they quickly put the game out of reach by tallying the next 11 points. Villanova was able to salvage four late points through the hitting of Trumball, but was defeated 15-9.

In game three, the Wildcats struggled early and often. Their passing became extremely errant, stymieing any hope of an offensive attack. Villanova struggled, hitting only .067 in the third game. Manhattan quickly took advantage by taking a commanding 13-3 lead. They never looked back as they finished off Villanova by the score of 15-5.

Statistically for the Wildcats, Ruth Ann Blankenheim (Lighthouse Point, Fla./Cardinal Gibbons) led the way with 6 kills and 14 digs. True freshman, Jennifer Edwards (Valencia, Calif./Valencia) continues to lead the way in the assist department with 27. Trumball and Zitterich supplied close to 50 percent of the offense with 9 and 8 kills respectively.

For the Wildcats they fall to 1-3 on the season, while Manhattan improves to 2-2.

Villanova will be in action next weekend, September 8-9, at the UNC-C Tournament in Charlotte, North Carolina. Their opponents will be UNC-Charlotte, High Point, and Eastern Illinois.