Jack Bramswig Update

As we know, former Senior Basketball player Jack Bramswig for Manhattanville basketball has spent this past football season as a member of the Boston College Eagles. With the season coming to a close and being close friends with Jack, we can now reflect on his experience as a Eagle. Jack has been privileged to have both family and friends from Manhattanville visit Boston College and see him play throughout the season. Jack’s perseverance and drive to  improve his football skills at the division one level after not playing for four years is an example of the person he is. Many people can’t say they have played division one football, but even more people can’t say they have stopped playing football for four years and then played division one football. From private meeting rooms to sizeable facilities, game days at Boston College look a lot differently for Bramswig than they did at Manhattanville. However, even with the pressure of 45,000 fans, Bramswig’s game-day preparations have not changed.

Jack still has the relax go getting attitude he use to have while at Manhattanville. He says that he sticks to his pre game playlist of Taylor Swift. Since joining the Eagles, Bramswig has been an active member of the special teams unit and is continuing to get more and more playing time as the season progressed. In addition to his involvement with the team, Bramswig is continuing his education in the Woods School at Boston College as an Advancing Studies major. Expanding upon his bachelor’s degree in history and education, Bramswig’s academic goals and career aspirations have not changed. With Jack’s season of eligibility coming to a close, he looks ahead. Jack looks to pursue playing football professionally but for the time being will finish his academic year at Boston College. Jack’s adventure on this opportunity has been one of a kind and we wish him the best in the future.

Womens Basketball Drops Freedom Conference Opener

The Manhattanville Womens basketball team fell short against Deslaes University 67-54 in their Freedom Conference opener Wednesday night in Kennedy Gymnasium. Seniors Alyson Caiazzo and Bri Pabon each finished with 15 points for Manhattanville, but the Valiants struggled as a whole only connecting on 19-of-55 shots from the floor. The Valiants came out hot, with a 6-2 lead just three minutes into the game. Desales consistently came back at the Valiants due to their stellar shooting from beyond the arc. Desales knocked down four three pointers in a row against the Valiants giving them the 14-12 lead with fourteen minutes left in the first. Overall, Deslaes finished 9 for 20 from beyond the arc. Morgan McCollian of Desales gave senior Caiazzo a battle in the low post all night long, scoring 16 points to go with 11 rebounds.

Manhattanville started off the second half with consecutive three pointers, coming from sophomore Alyson Chase and Pabon, tying the game at 37 just two minutes in. Desales ended up pulling out to a 48-37 lead with fourteen minutes remaining. The Valiants came as close to six points of Desales but could not seal the deal. Desales gave the Valaints a tough time in the post with many second chance opportunities. Desales had 14 points off of second chance opportunities throughout the game.The Bulldogs’ bench was the ultimate difference maker in the contest, outscoring Manhattanville’s bench 22-2.

Valiants take Home Opener

The Mens Basketball team defeated Purchase College on Wednesday evening in the season home opener for the Valiants. The game gave the Valiants bragging rights in the battle of anderson road. Kennedy Gymnasium was electric for the home opener and definitely help give the Valiants an edge in this important game. The Valiants were lead by Junior Forward Juan Comacho who finished the game with 22 points. Comacho came up huge in the victory, shooting 9-of-13 from the field and 4-of-5 from the line to go with two assists, two blocks and a steal. Comacho also provided the highlight of the night when coming down on a fast break and dunking over Purchase college’s Julien Wright to finish off the first half. The dunk gave the Valiants energy going into the half and got everyone on their feet in Kennedy Gymnasium. Freshman Forward Alex Tucci had an impressive debut in Kennedy Gymnasium where he had 13 points to go with five boards and three steals. Junior Darius Christmas gave the Valiants a spark off the bench where he played up tempo defense while adding eight points and three assists.

The game went back and forth between the Valiants and Purchase in the first half where there were seven ties and six lead changes. The Valiants eventually got ahead and lead by nine points at half. Manhattanville shot 44.8 percent from the field in the opening 20 minutes, and led in fast-break points 10-0 as part of its early lead. The Valiants up tempo defense and good ball movement kept them in control of the second half until Purchase came within five points with two minutes left in the second half. The Valiants secured the victory with Junior Anthony Maestre finishing the game six for six from the free throw line. Although this game was non conference, it was a big win for mens basketball. They gained their first home victory and defeated a local rival.

Caiazzo coming in hot

Senior Alyson Caiazzo is starting just where she left off last season for the Manhattanville Womens basketball team. The Valiants are expecting big things out of Caiazzo in her senior season and they can already see it coming. Caiazzo is coming off a very successful junior season where she collected accolades in almost every area on the court. Caiazzo ranked fourth in NCAA Division three rebounds per game, averaging 14.4 boards a game. Offensively she scored 15.2 points per game while shooting an impressive 51 percent from the field, finishing sixth overall in scoring and second in field-goal percentage in the Freedom Conference. To top it all off she led the conference and ranked tenth in Division three with 18 double-doubles finishing the regular season second in Division three with 360 rebounds in 25 games. It is hard to think Caiazzo could top what she proved to be a stellar junior season.

Caiazzo had a big opening weekend for the Valiants, starting with an 18-point, 21-rebound and five block performance against Gwynedd Mercy on Saturday afternoon. The five blocks during this game made Caiazzo the all time leader at Manhattanville with 138 total. Caiazzo has a lot of time to set the record high considering how early it is in the season. Caiazzo continued to come out on fire where she helped lead Manhattanville to its first victory of the season on Sunday afternoon, taking down Haverford by a final score of 64-60. In the win, Caiazzo had a game-high 25 points to go with seven rebounds and five assists. After averaging 21.5 points per game to go with 14 rebounds per game over the weekend, Caiazzo was named Freedom Conference player of the week. Caiazzo’s past accolades combined with her early promise this year will be key in the lady Valiants overall success.

The story behind the Veteran: Nicky Euvino.

Nicky Euvino is a senior center fielder for the Manhattanville Valiants. Euvino has had a successful carreer for the Valiants in where he has been a four year starter. Euvino has a career .279 batting average for the Valiants. Although Euvino has been hot and cold from the plate over the years, he is known for his speed where he is a defensive specialist and base stealing machine. Entering his senior year, Euvino has a career 50 stolen bases moving him to eighth all-time at Manhattanville. While having alot of talent on the field, Euvino is not only known for his baseball skills.

Nicky grew up in the Bronx N.Y for the first 16 years of his life. He was introduced to many different sports as a child but really latched on to two. Football and baseball. Growing up, Nicky said his father taught him the way to play baseball and helped him fall in love with the game. When Nicky was 12 years old, his father passed away. This was tough for Nicky, but also shaped him into the man he is today. Nicky attended local all mens private catholic high school Archbishop Stepinac. While at Stepianc, Nicky played both baseball and football. Football was a sport that Nicky grew to like on his own. Nicky’s impressive speed and skills helped him become an all state wide receiver. With his success on the football field, Nicky was almost positive on playing football at the college level. Then something interesting happened. At the end of his senior year, his assistant baseball coach at Stepinac Kevin Murray sat down with Nicky to go over what he had planned after college. Nicky had realized that he had a change of heart and would rather play baseball at the next level. Murray put Nicky in contact with Manhattanville college where he had played baseball. Nicky mentions that his father had part of the reason for continuing to play baseball instead of football. “My father taught me how to love the game of baseball. Whenever I step on that field I think of him and know he is watching me. I did not want to give it up.”

Considering Euvino’s decision was last minute, he has thought over the years about if he would have changed anything.” I love playing college baseball. The fact of the matter is that I still miss football a lot though. If I had to do it all over again, I would try to play both football and baseball in college. Sometimes when we condition for baseball we play touch football. When I get in the zone, its like playing on that Stepinac gridiron again. I really do miss it.”

Q&A with Senior Baseball Captain Jeff Moskowitz

What lead you to Manhattanville?

I wasn’t really too active in searching for schools. I believe I looked at three schools total. And I wanted to play baseball and this was the only school that  talked to me about playing. It was close but not too close to home. Only an hour away.

What has been your greatest accomplishment as an athlete?

I would have to say my greatest single accomplishment was being named captain this year.

What other sport would you like to compete in besides basketball?

Football!! I miss it so much. You can honestly play baseball your whole life because of all the leagues there are but football unless you play college. High School is the last time you will ever play contact. Nothing replaces those Friday night lights.

Who would you say is your  biggest fan and why?

My mom and dad because no matter how good or or bad I do I know they’ll always take time out of there day to drive up here and watch me play.

Do you enjoy working out alone or with a group of people and why?

I like both. I enjoy working out alone because I put my headphones in and just go hard but I also like the energy that other people give me in a group setting. I get amped up.

What are you the most nervous about when competing?

Letting my teammates down.

What was the best athletic team you been on and why?

My senior year of high school baseball team because I grew up playing with them and we won our county championship. Also the team here last year, because I got the same brotherly feeling playing with the guys on the team. We may not have won a championship but we accomplished a lot.

What is the best Compliment you have ever received?

“You have a really nice beard.”

Who is your hero in your life and why?

My Dad because throughout my life he has worked very long hours doing physically demanding jobs and umpiring on the weekends to make sure my family has everything they will ever need. He showed me what hard work really is.

Volleyball comes up just short of playoffs

The Manhattnville Women’s Volleyball team season ended Wednesday evening with a 3-0 match loss to Wilkes University at the Marts center. This loss put the Valiants only one match short from its first birth into the Freedom Conference tournament in the teams history. The loss dropped Manhattanville into a three-way tie for fourth place in the Freedom Conference with Wilkes and FDU-Florham, which lost in five sets to DeSales tonight. The tiebreaker fell to percentage of sets won between the three teams, with the Valiants coming up short.

With the season ending, we see two milestones set from two players that had a huge impact in the Valiants success this season. With sophomore Alissa Primavera’s eight kills Wednesday night, she finished the year fourth on the school’s single-season kills list with 265. Senior Alyssa Casino followed with 12 digs on the night, as Manhattanville’s all-time record holder finished her senior season with 431 digs. Although the Valiants unfortunately did not make the playoffs, there is no reason for the team to hang their heads. The team has come very far in the 2014 season. The three conference victories are the most by a Valiant side since 2001. The three wins are also the most conference victories that the team has seen, then combined victories over the seven years in the freedom conference.  Looking forward, the Valiants have 12 of 15 letter winners returning in 2015, as the Valiants expect to make another run at a postseason berth.

Baseball Looks Froward to Offseason

While the Manhattanville baseball team wrapped up its fall season a few weeks ago, the focus has shifted for the Valiants. Starting January 23rd, the Valiants will start their winter workouts and training in the indoor facilities of “Game of 13” located in Elmsford, New York, and “House of Sports” located in Ardsley, New York

.

Many people do not know how much time is put into baseball in the off season. Although the baseball team is fortunate to have a fall season, the long winter season prevents the athletes from working out outside on the field. “Its not like we play down in Florida and have all year to get better outside. The time we have available to workout, we have to take advantage of.” said senior Nicky Euvino. Starting the 23rd, the Valiants will travel to these indoor facilities two to three nights a week to work on fielding, hitting, and pitching fundamentals. The players will set up in multiple cages where they will work on hitting the baseball opposite field and in different in-game situations. The workouts are very important for the pitchers in that they will throw a few sets of pitches in order to keep their arms strong, and healthy over the long winter months. As time goes on, pitchers will begin to face batters in the cage where they can work off each other and try to improve. “Its the most important time of the season for us. If we take it seriously, we have the potential to have a good season. The time we put in now will put us that much farther ready for the spring.” said Euvino. “It also helps build team chemistry. Coach will put players from different ages in hitting groups to help one another and become closer.” Although it may seem with the winter months approaching that baseball is ending, January 23rd, the Valiants will be preparing for the 2015 season and the opportunity to win the Freedom Conference title.

Women’s Volleyball pushes closer to playoffs

The Manhattanville women’s volleyball team gained a huge victory against Kings college this Tuesday evening in Kennedy gymnasium. The crucial comeback victory helped moved the Valiants to 3-3 putting them in tie for fourth place with FDU-florham in the Freedom Conference. The match was very exciting where it came down to the fifth and final frame.

Kings came out early and won the first set of the match 25-14 where they had an impressive twelve kills and only one error. The Valiants battled back and took a close played second match 25-21. The Valiants dropped the third match 29-27 after having a late comeback against the Monarchs. The Valiants did not give up, where in the fourth set they saw 13 ties and eight lead changes, until eventually coming back from a 23-22 deficit to win the fourth set 25-23. For the fifth and final set the Valiants and Monarchs battled. Each team going point for point until tieing at eight all. Then Freshman Ally Pappalardo came up big with three more kills to help push the Valiants forward in a 15-11 set and match win. The Valiants had some great individual performances to help with the huge team win. Sophomore Alissa Primavera led the way with 22 kills, jumping all the way from 11th to fifth on the school single-season kills list. Freshman Aly Pappalardo followed with 17 kills and three blocks. Freshman  Kerry Mackey also stepped up for the Valiants with 15 kills, seven digs, and five blocks. Defensively Alyssa Casino had 30 digs for the Valiants while sophomore Sam Miano had a career high 35 digs.

Mens Golf team ends season strong.

The Manhattanville Mens golf team ended the fall semester with a season low round of 309 in their victory against SUNY purchase and Sage this Wednesday afternoon. With golf being a sport mostly focused about personal scores, this strong match for the team, is a solid benchmark looking forward into the spring season. John Maiolo, Tanner Hicks, and Tyler Stagg all shot seven over par, tieing them all for third place in the event. With the season closing, the Valiants have a lot to be proud of. The Valaints had a conference best, 312 average strokes per round as a team. Senior  Erik Michalak posted the best average out of the eight golfers with an impressive 77.3 average for the season.