KINGS POINT, N.Y. (Oct. 9, 2026) – In front of a raucous crowd inside the Liebertz Gymnasium, the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy women's volleyball team knocked off four-time defending Skyline Conference champion Manhattanville in straight sets on Friday night, 25-20, 25-19 and 25-21. The victory was USMMA's first over the Valiants since the 2021 Skyline Championship match and snapped Manhattanville's remarkable 49-match winning streak against Skyline opponents, a run that dated back to the 2022 season. The Mariners improved to 14-2 overall and remained perfect in conference play at 5-0, while Manhattanville fell to 4-6 (1-1 Skyline).
Match File
Sophomore
Carly Soboloski (Peoria, Ariz.) turned in a huge performance, putting down eight kills without an error on just 12 swings for a .667 hitting percentage. She also added three service aces, five digs and three block assists. Freshman
Anna Kelly (Orange, Texas) led the Mariners with 10 kills and added five digs. Junior
Maddie Mayer (Centennial, Colo.) finished with seven kills on a .357 hitting percentage and three block assists, and freshman
Sophie Phillips (Huffman, Texas) added four kills on six swings for a .500 clip and was in on four blocks.
Freshman
Miranda Zeng (Cupertino, Calif.) directed the offense with a match-high 35 assists and also contributed three service aces, nine digs and two block assists. Senior
Alexa Tipps (Palmdale, Calif.) added eight digs in the back row, and sophomore
Brooklyn Branum (Coppell, Texas) chipped in five. USMMA finished with 38 kills and hit .291 as a team, holding Manhattanville to just 23 kills and a .051 hitting percentage. The Mariners also owned a 42-33 advantage in digs and a 7.0-4.0 edge in blocks.
The opening set lived up to the billing, with neither side able to gain much separation. Manhattanville led 12-10 before the Mariners answered with four straight points, including kills by Soboloski and Kelly and back-to-back Soboloski aces, to move ahead 14-12. The teams were later tied at 16-16 before USMMA began to create some breathing room. A kill by junior
Sydney Douglas (Herndon, Va.) and a Mayer ace made it 18-16, and the Mariners eventually pushed the advantage to 23-19 before closing out the hard-fought 25-20 victory.
USMMA took control much earlier in the second. The Mariners jumped out to a 6-2 lead, stretched the margin to 10-4 and then broke the set open with a six-point surge that made it 16-5. USMMA remained in control from there, eventually building a commanding 24-14 advantage. The final score became much tighter only after Manhattanville's Cassidy Fallon went to the service line and sparked a five-point run that included three aces, but the Mariners halted the rally to finish off the 25-19 win. USMMA hit a blistering .452 in the set with 17 kills against just three errors.
The Mariners' depth helped keep the pressure on in the third. USMMA grabbed a 10-5 advantage behind a Soboloski ace and a Mayer-Zeng block, and although Manhattanville repeatedly tried to work its way back into the set, the Mariners had an answer each time. In her first set of the night, freshman
Candy Saz-Price (Cabot, Ark.) provided a spark with a pair of kills that pushed the lead to 13-7, and Phillips later stopped a Valiant run with a kill at 14-12. Kelly answered another push with a kill at 16-14 and Mayer helped USMMA rebuild a 21-18 cushion late. Manhattanville got as close as 22-21 before the Mariners scored the final three points, with Zeng delivering a match-clinching service ace to set off the celebration inside Liebertz Gym.
The victory marked USMMA's fourth straight win and third consecutive Skyline sweep, but more importantly, it ended Manhattanville's 49-match winning streak against Skyline opponents and handed the Valiants their first conference loss since the 2022 season.
Up next, the Mariners will travel out to Patchogue in Suffolk County on Tuesday night, Oct. 13, to face another big Skyline rival in St. Joseph's-Long Island. First serve is scheduled for 7 p.m. at the Golden Eagles' Danzi Center Gym.
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