WILKES-BARRE – The Wilkes University women's volleyball team battled back from a two-set deficit before eventually falling to Manhattanville College in five (22-25, 12-25, 25-23, 25-23, 7-15) Wednesday night at the Marts Center to open Middle Atlantic Conference Freedom (MAC Freedom) play.

Jamey Mikovich (Nesquehoning, PA/Panther Valley) recorded a season high with 17 kills and added 14 digs for her fifth double-double of the season and Alex Ferrier (Cressona, PA/Blue Mountain) recorded season highs with 14 kills and seven digs. Freshman setter Karlye Huffman (Sugar Run, PA/Wyalusing) directed the offense all night setting a career high with 40 assists.

Wilkes fell to 6-3 overall and 0-1 in the MAC Freedom while Manhattanville improved to 6-1 overall and 1-0 in the conference.

The Valiants led by as many as seven points in the first set before Wilkes closed the margin to just one at 21-20 after Shayna Fehrle's (Philadelphia, PA/St. Hubert) back-to-back service aces. Manhattanville closed out the first set with four of the next six points to take set one 25-22.

After the second set was tied at seven the Valiants took control with 12 of the next 13 points and cruised to a 25-12 set victory.

The Colonels comeback started in the third set. Trailing 12-10, Wilkes went on a four-point run to take the 14-12 lead. Ferrier had a kill, Huffman added consecutive aces and Mikovich finished the scoring with a kill. Another Ferrier kill put Wilkes on the brink of extending the match but Manhattanville scored three in a row to make it 24-23. Mikovich ended things with a kill as the Colonels took set three 25-23.

Wilkes gained the first three-point lead of set four at 12-9 when Christie Challenger (Schuylkill Haven, PA/Blue Mountain) recorded a kill and then a solo block and Huffman served an ace. The Colonels built their lead to five points at 19-14 but Manhattanville fought back to tie the score with the next five points. Wilkes received help by way of three errors by the Valiants to take a 22-19 advantage. Manhattanville again tied the match at 22-22 before Wilkes used a timeout to settle things. Ferrier came out of the stoppage with a kill and Mikovich followed suit with another as Wilkes looked to push the match to a fifth set. That would happen after a Manhattanville error as the Colonels grabbed set four 25-23.

Ferrier put Wilkes ahead 3-2 early in the fifth set with a kill but the Valiants seized control with nine of the next 11 points to go ahead 11-5. Manhattanville then clamped down to take the conference opener 15-7 in the fifth.

Libero Juliet Betke (Poplar Grove, IL/Belvidere North) led the Wilkes backline defense with a season high 25 digs. Julie Murphy (Mountaintop, PA/Crestwood) added eight digs and Fehrle finished with seven digs and a career high five aces.

Michele Natale (Kinnelon, NJ/Kinnelon) was third on the team with eight kills and led Wilkes at the net with three blocks.

Manhattanville was led by 22 kills and 18 digs from Laura Livolsi. Monica Lopez added 25 digs and Sarah Camarena had 21.

The Colonels remain home to host a tri-match on Saturday. Wilkes faces Medgar Evers College at 11:00 a.m. before ending the day against Wesley College at 3:00 p.m.