White Posts Eighth Double Double as Volleyball Splits with NYIT and Bentley
Box Score 1 |
Box Score 2 DOBBS FERRY, N.Y. (Oct. 5, 2013) – Junior Brenna White (Gardnerville, Nev. / Douglas) posted her eighth double-double and fourth 20-kill match of the season as the Mercy College volleyball team split a tri-match against East Coast Conference foe NYIT and Bentley University on Saturday, falling 3-0 to the Bears but bouncing back with a thrilling 3-1 win over the Falcons.
NYIT also defeated Bentley to move to 15-1 overall and 4-1 in the ECC, while Mercy now holds a 7-8 (0-4) record and Bentley drops to 10-6.
NYIT 3, Mercy 0
The Mavericks got an early jump on the powerful Bears in the first set, rushing out to a 6-3 lead as freshman Floriana Rraci (Cortlandt Manor, N.Y. / Walter Panas) served through a five-point run. NYIT quickly cut the deficit to one and the ECC foes traded points until another 5-1 run gave Mercy its largest lead of the match at 13-8.
NYIT's offense began to click, however, and timed perfectly with some Mavericks errors to pull the Bears back within two at 14-16. Mercy was able to stretch the lead back out to four at 20-16, but NYIT staged a furious rally, notching five straight points to take a 21-20 lead.
Senior Nicole Pepe (East Meadow, N.Y. / East Meadow) came up with a clutch kill to stave off the rally, but NYIT regained the lead on back-to-back Mercy blocking and attack errors. Down 23-21, the Mavericks turned to White, who picked up a kill to make it 23-22 in NYIT's favor and another following a Bears point to make it 24-23, but a Mercy service error handed the set to NYIT, 25-23.
The Bears exploded out of the gates to start the second set. After winning the first two points and giving Mercy one on an attack error, NYIT rattled off eight unanswered points with AVCA Honorable Mention All-America senior Shelby Cable serving. The Mavericks finally were able to stop the run, but NYIT never let up, eventually taking the set in a dominant 25-11 performance.
The third set started out fairly even as neither team could separate by more than three points until NYIT reached a 14-10 lead that soon became 17-12. Against the ropes, Mercy began to fight back, pulling within one at 17-16. NYIT would match the Mavericks from there, however, and held on for the 25-19 victory to seal the match.
White led the Mavericks with 10 kills and 10 digs while junior McKenna Ronan (Chandler, Ariz. / Seton Catholic Prep) made 19 assists.
Cable and senior Savannah Donarski paced the Bears with 11 and 10 kills on .450 and .300 hitting percentages, respectively. Senior Marija Jovanovic made 28 assists while junior Taylor Pulley recorded 14 digs and senior Kelly Brown had a part in five blocks (one solo).
Mercy 3, Bentley 1
Mercy used another five-point run with Rraci serving to jump out to an early 8-4 lead in the first set against Bentley. The Falcons began to cut into the Mavericks' lead, eventually tying things up at 16-16, but Mercy took control shortly after, winning the final six points on Ronan's serve to take the set, 25-18.
The Mavericks started set two with an early four-point lead as well before the Falcons again evened the score at 13-13. White smacked a kill to put Mercy back up by one, but Bentley notched the next three points to take a two-point lead.
Once again, though, the Mavericks rode Rraci's electric serve to five straight points, including a pair of aces, to take a 19-16 lead. The Falcons pulled back within one and traded points to a 21-22 score line, but White closed things out, 25-21, with a pair of kills to put Mercy up 2-0 in the match.
Bentley came out for the third set much more composed, which in turn forced Mercy into committing more attack errors. The Falcons led from start to finish, with the Mavericks forcing just two early ties and staging a late five-point rally behind three kills from White and again on Rraci's serve. With the 25-17 victory in hand, the teams headed into the crucial fourth set with Mercy leading, 2-1.
The Mavericks immediately committed a pair of attack errors to go down 0-2, but quickly bounced back to lead 3-2 on a pair of service aces by senior Kristie Zubiate (Salinas, Calif. / North Monterey County). The Falcons picked things back up and held a slight edge through a 10-10 tie and scored three straight points to lead 13-10, but the Mavericks responded with four points of their own, including another Zubiate ace, to take the 14-13 lead.
Bentley briefly regained a 15-14 lead, but a White kill and consecutive aces by senior Mallorie Hopkins (Commerce, Calif. / Pasadena City College) put the Mavericks back up, 17-15. Both teams battled it out down the stretch to 21-21 and 23-23 ties, but Mercy would come away with the win on back-to-back kills by junior Sonia Morales (San Fernando, Calif. / Discovery Prep) and senior Nicolette Gebhardt (Bloomingburg, N.Y. / Pine Bush), who capped her return from injury with the winning point in the 25-23 match-clinching victory.
White led the match with 25 kills on a .327 hitting percentage. Ronan made 38 assists while Hopkins posted 17 digs and Morales added another five blocks (one solo).
Sophomore Jaci Buscher posted a double-double for the Falcons with 10 kills and 12 digs. Junior Savannah Dominguez added another 10 kills and seven total blocks (three solo) while junior Alex Tator made 32 assists and junior Lauren Colasanti recorded 13 digs.
Head Coach Kelly Wengerter and the Mavericks will host new ECC opponent Daemen College (8-7, 2-4) on Friday, Oct. 11 at 7 p.m.
