Riverdale, NY - After suffering a 30-19 opening round loss, the Iona College volleyball team rallied to defeat Manhattan in five games. The win was the fourth consectutive and ten of the last 14 matches for the Maroon & Gold.

Iona held a 17-12 lead midway through game two, but the Jaspers battled back to pull within two at 20-18. Kimberlee Boogard, Kendall Paulus, Kristin Allain, and Sarah Wiener knocked down kills to keep Manhattan at bay as Iona evened the match at one game apiece with a 30-21 win.

The third game was a hard fought battle as the score saw 11 ties and nine lead changes. Manhattan jumped out to an early 13-9 lead, but the Gaels fought back and soon the game was tied at 22. The Jaspers fought hard as they took the third game, 30-26 and now led the match, 2-1.

One game away from elimination, Iona came back from a 13-9 deficit in game four to tie the game at 14. Play went back-and-forth, but in the end the Maroon & Gold edged out a 30-26 win to force a deciding game five. Throughout the final stanza, the largest lead either team could muster was two points. The score stood at 13-all as Iona scored the final two points to squeeze out 15-13 victory in the game.

Paulus and Allain both recorded double-doubles, with 14 kills and 14 digs for Paulus, and 15 kills and 11 digs for Allain. Boogard had a solid day for the Gaels, contributing 10 kills, four digs, and six blocks. Allison Nieters had 30 digs in the match while Alyssa Morales had 46 assists.

The Gaels will take on Fairfield for a midweek matchup on Oct. 17 at 7:00 pm.