White Posts Fourth 20-Kill Match, Pepe Sets Career High as Volleyball Hosts ECC Rival LIU Post
Box Score DOBBS FERRY, N.Y. (Sept. 25, 2012) – Sophomore outside hitter Brenna White (Gardnerville, Nev.) posted her fourth 20-kill match of the year and junior middle blocker Nicole Pepe (East Meadow, N.Y.) added a career-high 13 as the Mercy College volleyball team hosted East Coast Conference rival LIU Post on Tuesday night.
The Mavericks fell in a tightly contest four sets by scores of 25-16, 26-24, 21-25 and 25-23, dropping their record to 2-10 overall and 0-2 in ECC play while the Pioneers improve to 9-8 (1-1).
LIU Post took the lead on the first point and did not look back in the first set, slowly building up a five-point lead before rattling off a 9-3 run to jump out to a 23-13 lead that Mercy could not cut, leaving the Mavericks down 1-0 in the match.
The second set was much more even as the Pioneers scored four unanswered points midway through to take their biggest lead of the set at 17-13 but the Mavericks responded with a 7-1 run to take the 20-18 lead. Unfortunately for Mercy, five attack errors over the final points allowed LIU Post to tie things back up at 21-21, after which the Pioneers did not relinquish the lead.
Mercy came out in the third set eager to make up for dropping the second and took a quick 4-1 lead. LIU Post recovered to lead at 9-8 but Mercy followed that up with six straight points behind four service aces from junior defensive specialist Kirstie Zubiate (Salinas, Calif.). The Pioneers tried to come back and came close at 20-19 but the Mavericks scored another three straight to regain control and finished things off shortly after, punctuated by White's 20th kill of the evening.
The Mavericks looked destined to force a fifth set as they exploded to a 12-7 lead, but some awful luck struck as sophomore setter McKenna Ronan (Chandler, Ariz.) pulled up on the next play with an apparent ankle injury. A pair of Pioneers attack errors still pushed Mercy out to a commanding 15-8 lead, but with Ronan, who had made an amazing 39 assists over the first three sets, making only one over the remainder of the set the offense struggled to click and Mercy eventually fell as LIU Post rallied to score nine of the final 12 points and take the match.
White led the match with 24 kills and once again just missed a double-double as she tied for the team lead in digs (nine) with Ronan and Zubiate. Ronan finished the night with a still-impressive 46 assists and Pepe recorded her 13 kills on an exceptional .667 hitting percentage.
Junior middle blocker Makamae Namahoe (Hilo, Hawaii) led the Pioneers with 11 kills and posted the double-double with 11 digs, while freshman libero Rachel Ringor (Honolulu, Hawaii) led the squad with 13 digs and four service aces. Freshmen setters Monica Amador (Cedar Park, N.Y.) and Katie Barto (East Rockaway, N.Y.) combined to make 35 assists and junior middle hitter Susy Cricchi (Bongovelino, Italy) made assisted on eight of the team's 10.0 total blocks.
Head Coach Taneisha Cantave and the Mavericks will look to bounce back and earn their first conference win as they host Molloy College (4-10, 2-1) on Thursday, Sept. 27 at 7:00 p.m.
