Olson Slams Home 10 Kills as Volleyball Travels to Bridgeport for ECC Contest
Box Score BRIDGEPORT, Conn. (Oct. 1, 2015) – Freshman Peyton Olson (Albany, Ore./West Albany) finished with double-digit kills for the 10th time this season as the Mercy College volleyball team dropped a, 3-0 (14-25, 15-25, 17-25), decision to the University of Bridgeport in an East Coast Conference (ECC) matchup on Thursday night at Hubbell Gym.
The Mavericks (4-12, 0-4 ECC) remain searching for their first conference win, while the defending ECC champion Purple Knights (8-6, 4-0 ECC) remain perfect in league play.
Olson concluded the match with a team-high 10 kills and had four digs, while freshman Brianna Heffernan (East Islip, N.Y./East Islip) brought up a team-high 11 digs. Fellow freshman Brooke Runge (Closter, N.J./Northern Valley Demarest) dished out 17 assists and had six digs in her Mercy debut.
Katarina Krstonosic led Bridgeport with a 17-kill, 12-dig double-double.
The Mavericks once again ran into an efficient offensive night by the opposition as the Purple Knights hit .340, including an impressive .625 in the final set to earn the straight-set victory.
The opening set saw the home team jump out to a 6-0 lead before Mercy fought back and cut the deficit to three, 8-5. However, that would be the closest the Mavericks got in the frame as Bridgeport went on a 13-5 run to open up a 21-10 lead and held on to take a 1-0 lead.
The two teams were tied at 4-4 early in the second set before the Purple Knights responded with a 7-2 spurt to build an 11-6 advantage. A kill by sophomore Sa'Naya Johnson (Elizabeth, N.J./Elizabeth) and a Bridgeport block error made it 11-8, but the Purple Knights came back with nine of the next 11 points to build a 20-10 advantage and found its way to a two-set lead.
A Johnson kill in the third set gave the Mavericks a 10-9 lead and a kill by senior Abigail Foti (Bedford, N.H./Bedford) later knotted the set up at 12-12. However, the Purple Knights would show why they are among the conference's elite as they scored six unanswered to take an 18-12 lead and held off a late Mercy rally to earn the victory.
The Mavericks concluded the night hitting .099, posting a match-best .243 hitting percentage in the third set, while ending the contest with 24 kills and 36 digs.
Head Coach Kelly Wengerter head back to Dobbs Ferry for a matchup with Queens College on Tuesday, October 6th at 7 p.m.
