UNIVERSITY PARK, PA (December 6, 2002) - Looking to exact some revenge, the Manhattan College volleyball team traveled to University Park, PA Friday evening for its NCAA first round match against the Temple Owls at Recreation Hall on the campus of Penn State University.
Both Manhattan and Temple won their respective conferences, and met last week in Philadelphia in a last-minute preparation match before the NCAA Tournament. The Lady Jaspers lost the match 3-1, but just days later discovered they would get another shot at taking down the Atlantic 10 champions.
Despite winning the first game 32-30, the Lady Jaspers fell into a 2-1 hole and couldn't put the Owls away, losing the match 3-1. The game scores were 32-30, 21-30, 15-30 and 31-33.
Manhattan ends its magical season with an overall record of 30-4, while Temple improves to 28-6 and advances to play the winner of the Penn State vs. Pennsylvania match tomorrow evening.
Junior Goedele "Luka" Van Cauteren (Oetingen, Belgium) led the Lady Jaspers with 17 kills, 16 assists, four blocks and two aces, while junior Jaime Pavel (Molalla, OR) paced the defense with 17 digs. Seniors Amy O'Dorisio (San Diego, CA), Lauren Belcher (Huntington Beach, CA) and Bridgett Geddes (Escondido, CA), all playing their last match in a Jasper uniform, put up solid numbers in the losing effort. O'Dorisio notched 13 kills and nine digs, Belcher tallied six blocks and nine kills and Geddes assisted on 34 kills on the night.
Manhattan won the most matches in school history with 30, which included a run of 22 matches in a row, the longest winning streak by any Manhattan team. The Lady Jaspers graduate five seniors, including O'Dorisio, Belcher, Geddes, Lauryn McKinney (San Diego, CA) and Jackie Leon (Miami, FL).