White and Gebhardt Lead Volleyball to Thrilling 3-1 ECC Win Over Daemen
Box Score DOBBS FERRY, N.Y. (Oct. 11, 2013) – Junior Brenna White (Gardnerville, Nev. / Douglas) and senior Nicolette Gebhardt (Bloomingburg, N.Y. / Pine Bush) combined for a whopping 40 kills to lead the Mercy College volleyball team to a 3-1 East Coast Conference victory over Daemen College in front of a spirited crowd on Friday night. Gebhardt also smacked her milestone 1,000th career kill during the victory.
Mercy improves to 8-8 overall and 1-4 in the ECC while Daemen falls back to 8-8 (2-5).
The Mavericks were clearly ready to go from the start in this match as the gym erupted with cheers from both players and fans after the starting lineups were announced. White started things off with a kill to hand Mercy the serve and senior Nicole Pepe (East Meadow, N.Y. / East Meadow) held it through a 6-0 lead.
The teams traded points through the middle of the set until a 7-3 run put Mercy within set point at 24-13. Daemen tried to rally with five unanswered points, but Pepe capped the 25-18 victory with an authoritative kill to put Mercy up 1-0 in the match.
Mercy took an early lead in the second set but Daemen took control behind senior Brittany Anthon, who served through seven straight points. The Mavericks responded immediately, however, winning seven consecutive points of their own – led by three kills from Gebhardt – with senior Mallorie Hopkins (Commerce, Calif. / Pasadena City College) serving.
Despite holding as much as a six-point advantage at 19-13 after a 10-1 run, the Mavericks could not hold back the Wildcats' second furious late rally. Daemen clawed back to trail 17-22 before rattling off the final eight points of the set to win, 25-22, and even the match. Junior Ye Wang smacked five kills to fuel the comeback.
Daemen rode the momentum through the start of the third set, stretching out to an 11-5 lead. Mercy began to fight back as White heated up and finally tied things up at 18-18 on another clutch kill by Pepe. The teams traded points all the way through to a 22-22 tie, when the Mavericks finally took their first lead of the set at 23-22. A service error tied things back up, but White's sixth kill of the set and block assists by Gebhardt and junior Sonia Morales (San Fernando, Calif. / Discovery Prep) closed out the 25-23 win and 2-1 match lead for Mercy.
The Wildcats regained their composure to jump out to an early 11-4 lead in the third set, but the Mavericks ran off five straight points to pull within two. Daemen extended the lead back out to four and held the margin to a 16-12 score line, when White took control of the match.
Three kills in the next four points brought the Mavericks back within two at 18-16, but the Wildcats would not fold. Daemen held its slim margin through to a 23-20 lead before Mercy finally pulled even at 23-23. Wang put Daemen within set point, but White extended the set with another kill for Mercy. The Wildcats picked up another chance at set point, but White tied things up again with her 11th kill of the set. Daemen had one more chance to take the set, but it was Gebhardt's turn to keep Mercy alive, and after a Daemen attack error gave Hopkins the chance to serve for match point, Gebhardt and Pepe combined for another block to seal the victory.
White led the match with a dominant 22 kills – her fifth 20-plus kill match – on a .386 hitting percentage and just missed a double-double with nine digs. Gebhardt smacked 18 kills on a match-high .405 hitting percentage, while Morales recorded the first double-digit kill match of her career with 10 and Pepe added six on a .357 hitting percentage. Junior setter McKenna Ronan (Chandler, Ariz. / Seton Catholic Prep) posted her fifth match with a 10-assist-per-set average, making 46, while Hopkins recorded her seventh 20-dig effort, with 22. Pepe finished with a season-high five total blocks, two of which were solo, to reach 153 for her career.
Wang led a trio of Wildcats to post at least 12 kills, smacking 16 and making five total blocks, while senior Kaley Vazquez and junior Chelsea Turcer combined to make 48 assists. Anthon hit 12 kills and added 16 digs for the double-double, while senior Paige Tilert recorded 17 digs to lead the team.
Head Coach Kelly Wengerter and the Mavericks will continue conference play tomorrow, Saturday, Oct. 12 as they host struggling Roberts Wesleyan College (4-8, 0-5) at 12 p.m.
