PURCHASE, N.Y. --  The FDU-Florham volleyball team opened the Freedom Conference portion of their schedule with a hard-fought, five-set loss to Manhattanville College on Wednesday night at Kennedy Gymnasium.

The Devils (8-9, 0-1 Freedom) have now dropped three-straight to the Valiants (7-5, 1-0 Freedom), as Manhattanville earned the 3-2 victory (25-19, 20-25, 30-32, 25-19, 10-15).

Freshman hitters Melissa Gaffney (League City Texas, Clear Creek) and Natalie Knudsen (Chester, N.J./Mendham) totaled 15 and 12 kills respectively, while setter Codi Inloes-Williams (Palmer Lake, Colo./Liberty) handed out a career-high 41 assists in defeat.

Following a split, the stage was set for a match-swinging third set between the two squads. The crucial third set was the most exciting of the match, as the two teams traded points throughout, equating to 15 ties and 10 lead changes. FDU-Florham led 19-15, but the Valiants came storming back by scoring seven of the next nine points to stake a 22-21 lead.

Down 24-22, the Devils staved off two set points by the Valiants to extend the contest. The Devils continued to fight off the pressure and took four more set points from the home team to prolong the set. FDU-Florham had their own chances to put the set away and led 28-27, 29-28, and 30-29 but could not seal the deal. Unfortunately, two attack errors in a row gave the Valiants the victory in the marathon set and a 2-1 lead in the match.

The Devils showed tremendous resilience by rallying to claim set number four and force a fifth frame. In the decisive fifth set, the Devils jumped out to a 5-2 lead and forced Manhattanville to take a timeout. After the break, the Valiants came back and gained a 6-5 advantage. With the score knotted at 7-7, the Valiants rattled off three-straight points with two kills and a Devils' attack error. Manhattanville setter Megan Quinabo recorded the final point of the match by dumping the ball over the net for the game-winning kill.

Quinabo totaled 42 assists for the Valiants, while setting up senior Amanda Materasso and sophomore Alissa Primavera for 11 kills apiece.

In addition to her 41 assists, Inloes-Williams added 18 digs, while sophomore libero Alex Muller (Gainesville, Fla./Eastside) contributed 29 digs. Sophomore middle hitter DeAnna D'Amico (Totowa, N.J/Passaic Valley) did an excellent job pressuring the Manhattanville attack and totaled five block assists on the night.

Next up for the Devils:
FDU-Florham hosts a quad-match this Saturday, September 20th with first serve slated for 11 a.m. against Ramapo College at Ferguson Recreation Center.