Olson Double-Double Leads Volleyball to Straight-Set Win Over ECC Foe Queens
Box Score DOBBS FERRY, N.Y. (Oct. 6, 2015) – Powered by the fifth double-double of the season from freshman Peyton Olson (Albany, Ore./West Albany) and 11 kills from sophomore Sa'Naya Johnson (Elizabeth, N.J./Elizabeth), the Mercy College volleyball team earned a 3-0 (25-23, 25-23, 25-22) win over East Coast Conference (ECC) foe Queens College on Tuesday night at Mercy Gymnasium.
The Mavericks (5-12, 1-4 ECC) pick up their first ECC win of the year and match their win total from all of last year, while the Knights (4-10, 1-4 ECC) have now dropped two in a row.
Olson finished with a .135 hitting percentage on the night, while Johnson hit an efficient .348 to go along with four blocks. Freshman Brooke Runge (Closter, N.J./Northern Valley Demarest) contributed 33 assists and five digs and freshman Eva Marie Lynch (New Windsor, N.Y./Cornwall) concluded the night with seven kills and four blocks. Freshman Brianna Heffernan (East Islip, N.Y./East Islip) chipped in 12 digs and junior Andrea Velasco (Whittier, Calif./Rio Hondo College) added 10 digs of her own.
Queens was led by Arielle DiCocco who had a match-high 16 kills along with six digs.
Playing in front of an energized crowd inside Mercy Gymnasium, the Mavericks had their best offensive match of the season as they hit a season-best .200 on the night and had 40 kills to earn the straight-set victory.
The opening set of the match saw the Mavericks jump out to a 12-6 lead midway through the set following a Johnson kill, forcing a Queens timeout. Mercy maintained a 22-18 edge late in the frame before the Knights responded with four unanswered to even things up at 22-22, leading to a Mavericks timeout. Out of the timeout Mercy scored three of the next four points to take the set as sophomore Danielle Sarasky (Floral Park, N.Y./Floral Park Memorial) and senior Abigail Foti (Bedford, N.H./Bedford) slammed home kills.
The Mavericks jumped out to a 14-9 advantage in the second set, but the visitors scored the next five points to tie up the set at 14-14. Queens built a 20-19 lead before Mercy went on a 4-1 run to retake the lead at 23-21. The Knights scored the next two points on kills by DiCocco, but the Mavericks closed the set with two straight to take a 2-0 lead.
Queens opened up the third set with a 6-3 lead, but Mercy would not budge as they scored six in a row to build a three-point lead, 9-6. The Mavericks increased the lead to as much as five and looked to have the set well in hand but the Knights clawed their way back and knotted the score up at 22-22. However, two kills from Olson and another by Lynch gave Mercy the win as the Mavericks hit a match-best .281 in the set.
Head Coach Kelly Wengerter and the Mavericks will look to build off the win as they travel to Molloy College on Thursday, October 8th for a 7:30 p.m. first serve.
