Volleyball Tops ECC-Nemesis C.W. Post in Epic Five-Set Match
Box Score BROOKVILLE, N.Y. (Oct. 4, 2011) – On Tuesday night the Mercy College volleyball team traveled out to Long Island to take on C.W. Post (7-9 overall, 1-2 in the ECC), a No. 5 seed in the NCAA Tournament last season. Hoping to break their five-game losing streak over the past two weeks and still looking for their first conference win, the Mavericks found it in an epic five-set match that lasted over two hours.
The victory is Mercy's first in the ECC since sweeping Concordia (N.Y.) in two matches in 2008 and first against a current conference member since a 3-1 decision over Molloy on Oct. 25, 2007. The Mavericks have already won four sets in conference play this season, as opposed to just one last year.
Mercy improves to 6-11 overall and 1-2 in the ECC, while C.W. Post drops to 7-10 (1-3).
Mercy traded sets with C.W. Post before taking the crucial third set, 28-26, before giving up the fourth in extra points (24-26) after nearly closing things out with a 22-16 lead. The fifth set was hotly contested as well but the Mavericks came away victorious in the end, 15-13. The Mavericks played exceptional defense all night, making 87 digs to hold the Pioneers offense in check and overcoming a solid net defense to take the match despite posting a lower hitting percentage as a team.
Freshman outside hitter Brenna White (Gardnerville, Nev.) led the match with 22 kills and a career-high 20 digs for the double-double and added six assists. Ranked No. 7 in Division II in kills-per-set as of this Tuesday morning, White also earned her second consecutive ECC Player of the Week Honor Roll accolades for posting 93 kills and 37 digs over her last five matches.
Freshmen setters Michala Askew (Ringgold, Ga.) and McKenna Ronan (Chandler, Ariz.) combined for 39 assists and both recorded double-doubles with 18 and 13 digs, respectively. Sophomore outside hitter Nicolette Gebhardt (Middletown, N.Y.) also reached double-digits in kills with 11 and two other Mavericks reached double digits in digs.
Freshman middle blocker Heather Adams (Centerville, Ohio) and sophomore middle blocker Shayla Hixson (Honolulu, Hawaii) paced the Pioneers with double-doubles, posting 12 kills with 11 digs and 10 kills with 16 digs, respectively. Junior libero Emily Hoehn (Kearney, Neb.) led the match with 24 digs as three other Pioneers broke double digits. Sophomore setter Stephanie Schwarz (Hoffman Estates, Ill.) made 40 assists and the C.W. Post defense combined for 16.0 total blocks, including 4.0 on eight block assists from Adams.
Head Coach Alan Clements and the Mavericks will look to add to their win column with another conference matchup against Queens College (2-8, 0-4) on Thursday in the Mercy Gymnasium at 7:00 p.m.
