White and Ronan Set Career Highs in Volleyball ECC Opener
Box Score DOBBS FERRY, N.Y. (Sept. 18, 2012) – The Mercy College volleyball team's pair of sophomores each posted career nights hosting their East Coast Conference opener against the University of the District of Columbia as outside hitter Brenna White (Gardnerville, Nev.) tied her career high with 31 kills and sophomore setter McKenna Ronan (Chandler, Ariz.) smashed hers with 54 assists on Tuesday evening.
The Mavericks took a thrilling first set and dominated the third but ultimately fell in an exhilarating five-set match, dropping to 2-6 overall and 0-1 in ECC play, while the Firebirds improve to 5-5 (1-0).
The match featured a pair of incredibly even teams as they battled back and forth over every point, leading to a whopping 318 total attempts and 121 digs.
Mercy rode a 7-2 run midway through the first set to an 18-13 lead but UDC fired right back with a 7-1 run shortly after, pulling within set point at 24-23. The Mavericks foiled the first attempt as well as a second at 25-24, then failed to capitalize on two set point chances of their own. UDC moved into position to take the set at 28-27, but a pair of attacking errors and White's ninth kill (on 18 attempts) gave the Mavericks the 1-0 match lead on a 30-28 score.
The second set looked to be shaping up the same as the first early on as neither team could build more than a two-point lead until UDC rattled off six straight points to go up 15-9. Mercy slowly pulled back into the set and finally tied it at 23-23. Another White kill saved set point and Mercy had its own chance to go up 2-0 at 25-24, but the Firebirds scored the final three points of the set to win 27-25 and even the match.
The Mavericks came out in the third set determined to make up for letting the second slip away, with junior defensive specialist Kirstie Zubiate (Salinas, Calif.) serving up three straight aces to start the set. UDC pulled level at 6-6 but Mercy ran off five straight points – three on White kills – to go up 11-6 and never looked back, increasing the lead to as much as 12 before closing out at 25-15, punctuated by another pair of White kills, giving her eight for the set (on only 11 attempts).
Mercy jumped out to an early lead in the fourth set as well but UDC recovered quickly and eventually took a big 8-1 run including six unanswered points to go up 22-15. The Firebirds would close it out at 25-18 to force a fifth set.
The Firebirds picked up the first point but the Mavericks quickly took control, building up a 10-6 lead in no time and looking well on their way to winning their ECC opener. Unfortunately for Mercy, UDC was far from finished and coming out of an opportune timeout took six straight points to turn the tables and lead 12-10. The Mavericks regained their composure to even the score at 12-12 but had nothing left as senior middle hitter Vanessa Garley (Rio Rancho, N.M.) smacked the final two kills to take the match.
White's 31 kills led the match as did her 16 digs, while Ronan's 54 bested her previous career high by 15. Junior outside hitter Nicolette Gebhardt (Pine Bush, N.Y.) recorded another impressive performance with 19 kills on a match-high .316 hitting percentage while freshman middle blocker Hana Brucaj (Shruboak, N.Y.) also set a career high with 2.0 total blocks, both solo.
Garley led the Firebirds with 12 kills and 3.5 total blocks as junior outside hitter Julia Lynch (Spring Creek, Nev.) also broke double-digits in kills with 10 and served up six aces while sophomore setter Kamene Rose (Chula Vista, Calif.) made 33 assists, also tying for the team lead in digs (10) with freshman outside hitter Jazmin Rogers (Tucson, Ariz.).
Head Coach Taneisha Cantave and the Mavericks will take part in the Northeast 10/ECC Challenge this weekend as they first travel to UMass-Lowell (3-4) on Friday, Sept. 21 at 7:00 p.m. before heading to Bentley University to face the hosts (2-7) on Saturday, Sept. 22 at 10:00 a.m. and Merrimack College (2-6) at 3:00 p.m.
