White's 20-20 Game Powers Volleyball Above .500 with 3-2 Win Versus Assumption
Box Score DOBBS FERRY, N.Y. (Sept. 21, 2013) – Junior Brenna White (Gardnerville, Nev. / Douglas) posted her first 20-20 game of the season as the Mercy College volleyball team took a five-set thriller against Assumption College, 3-2, on Saturday afternoon.
Mercy moves above .500 at 5-4 for the first time this season while Assumption drops to 3-6.
The Greyhounds took an early 5-1 lead in the first set but the Mavericks responded with six straight points, including a pair of aces by sophomore Hana Brucaj (Shrub Oak, N.Y. / Lakeland), to take a 7-5 lead. The teams traded points until Assumption rode a 6-1 run to a three-point lead at 17-14, which the Greyhounds extended to 22-17 shortly after. Mercy picked up four straight points to trim the margin back to one at 22-21, but Assumption would hold on for the 25-22 victory to take a 1-0 lead in the match.
Mercy gained an early three-point edge in the second set on four consecutive attacking errors by the Greyhounds. That proved to be the largest margin of the set as the Mavericks led nearly straight through, surrendering only a four-point run to fall behind by one before recovering to close things out at 25-23 and even the match.
The Mavericks rode the momentum through the third set, with the team combing to post 17 kills on a .500 hitting percentage. Assumption managed to take an early 10-6 lead, but soon after White took over with four consecutive kills to key an eight-point rally that put the Mavericks ahead, 16-12. White would finish with an incredible 13 kills in the set as Mercy cruised to a crucial 25-18 win and 2-1 edge in the match.
The Greyhounds bounced back in the fourth set, matching the Mavericks through the first 10 points and slowly building up a lead afterward, eventually extending it to 22-13 on a 10-2 run. Mercy picked up a few big points before the end, but Assumption finished things off at 25-15 to force a decisive fifth set.
That was fine by the Mavericks, of course, as they overcame an early two-point deficit to hit .412 with nine kills en route to a 15-11 victory to take the match.
White led the match with 28 kills and added a team-high tying 21 digs, which senior Mallorie Hopkins (Commerce, Calif. / Pasadena City College) matched for her fifth consecutive 21-plus dig game. Junior McKenna Ronan (Chandler, Ariz. / Seton Catholic Prep) made 51 assists over the five sets to record her fourth game with at least 10 assists per set, while sophomore Abi Foti (Bedford, N.H. / Bedford) added 14 kills. Senior Nicole Pepe (East Meadow, N.Y. / East Meadow) paced the Mavericks' blockers with eight blocks (one solo), combining with Brucaj and sophomore Sonia Morales (San Fernando, Calif. / Discovery Prep) to make 10.5 of the team's impressive 14 total blocks.
Senior Mary Johnston and junior Ann Donahue led the Greyhounds with 12 kills apiece, while senior Kristin Flatekval managed 39 assists and sophomore Courtney Bagwell and senior Jess Reimers recorded 25 and 10 digs, respectively.
Head Coach Kelly Wengerter and the Mavericks look to ride the momentum into their first conference matchup of the season at East Coast Conference rival Queens College (6-1) on Tuesday, Sept.24.
