Ronan Notches 800th Assist of Season as Volleyball Hosts ECC Rival Bridgeport in Season Finale
Box Score DOBBS FERRY, N.Y. (Nov. 11, 2012) – Sophomore setter McKenna Ronan (Chandler, Ariz.) just managed to record her 800th assist of the season as the Mercy College volleyball team ended its season playing host to the East Coast Conference-leading University of Bridgeport on Sunday afternoon.
Mercy took control early in the first set, capitalizing on some uncharacteristic errors by the Purple Knights to go up 10-7 before Bridgeport fought back. The Purple Knights briefly held the lead but the Mavericks soon rode an 8-2 back out to a 21-17 lead and made it 24-20 shortly after. Mercy could not come up with the deciding point, however, as Bridgeport came through in the clutch with the final six points to take the set, 26-24.
The Mavericks took another early lead in the second set but once again Bridgeport turned the tables, rattling off seven unanswered points to go up 13-9. The Purple Knights would not relinquish the lead and took the set, 25-21, to go up 2-0 in the match.
The third set was tightly contested until an 8-2 Bridgeport run gave the Purple Knights a five-point lead at 22-17. Mercy was able to cut the deficit to three twice before surrendering the final point and falling, 25-21.
Ronan made 29 assists for Mercy, setting up sophomore outside hitter Brenna White (Gardnerville, Nev.) for 14 kills and junior outside hitter Nicolette Gebhardt (Pine Bush, N.Y.) for nine. White also tied with junior defensive specialist Mallorie Hopkins (Commerce, Calif.) for the team lead with six digs apiece, with White also tying her career high with 1.5 total blocks and junior middle blocker Nicole Pepe (East Meadow, N.Y.) making 2.0 total blocks.
Sophomore outside hitter Biljana Savic (Novi Sad, Serbia) and sophomore outside hitter Ying Shen (Ninjang, China) led the Purple Knights with nine kills each as sophomore setter Fernanda Silva (Brasilia, Brazil) made 25 assists and senior libero Taylor McBeth (Langley, B.C.) recorded 11 digs.
Mercy ends the season with a 3-26 overall record, including an 0-15 mark in ECC play, while Bridgeport improves to 21-4 (13-1). White led the squad for the second consecutive year with 442 kills on a 4.42 average per set, ranking as high as seventh in Division II during the season. She recorded nine double-doubles and six 20-kill performances, including tying her career high of 31 kills and recording the 1,000th kill of her career on Oct. 23. Hopkins topped the digs chart with 286, with White close behind at 238 and junior libero Kirstie Zubiate (Salinas, Calif.) ranking third with 234. The middle blocking trio of freshman Hana Brucaj (Shrub Oak, N.Y.), senior Kassy Phillips (Marcellus, N.Y.) and Pepe combined to make 56.5 total blocks.
