Olson and Johnson Combine for 38 Kills as Volleyball Overcomes Two-Set Deficit to Defeat Felician
Box Score RUTHERFORD, N.J. (Sept. 17, 2015) – Led by a career-high 23 kills from freshman Peyton Olson (Albany, Ore./West Albany) and a season-high 15 kills from sophomore Sa'Naya Johnson (Elizabeth, N.J./Elizabeth), the Mercy College volleyball team overcame a two-set deficit to defeat Felician College, 3-2 (24-26, 23-25, 25-13, 29-27, 15-12) on Thursday night at Job Gymnasium.
The Mavericks saved four match points in the fourth set before overcoming a 5-0 deficit in the fifth to earn the win and improve to 4-5, while the Golden Falcons drop to 1-8.
Olson ended the night with a double-double adding 15 digs to pick up her second double-double of the year. Johnson also finished with nine blocks on the evening, while freshman Brianna Heffernan (East Islip, N.Y./East Islip) capped off the night with a match-high 25 digs. Freshman Eva Marie Lynch (New Windsor, N.Y./Cornwall) had a career-high 13 blocks and juniors Andrea Velasco (Whittier, Calif./Rio Hondo College) and Floriana Rraci (Cortlandt Manor, N.Y./Walter Panas) each contributed 13 digs. Junior Michelle Luna (Costa Mesa, Calif./Costa Mesa) helped direct the offense with 23 assists, while freshman Toni Parente (East Patchogue, N.Y./Bellport) chipped in 20 assists of her own.
Paulina Calero led the way for Felician with a team-high 16 kills.
The opening set of the night saw the Mavericks get off to a good start as they jumped out to an early 9-4 lead. Mercy would hold a 16-13 lead in the frame before the home team stormed back with five unanswered to take their first lead of the set at 18-16. Olson and Velasco slammed home a pair of kills late in the set to give the Mavericks a 24-23 advantage, but the Golden Falcons closed on a 3-0 run to take a 1-0 lead.
Felician got off to a 5-0 start in the second set before Mercy responded and built up a 13-10 lead midway through the stanza. Following a Johnson kill the Mavericks led 23-21, but the home team closed the set strong with four in a row to take what seemed to be a commanding 2-0 lead in their home opener.
Mercy would not go down without a fight though as they started the third set with a 20-5 lead and would cruise to the win to force a fourth set.
In the fourth set, the Golden Falcons built a 20-17 lead and led 24-22 late in the set, needing only one point for a victory. However, the Mavericks would avoid the loss as Olson put down a pair of kills late in the frame to keep Mercy alive. With the contest tied at 27-27, Heffernan delivered a kill and Olson served up an ace to give the Mavericks the set and even things up at 2-2, forcing a deciding fifth set.
The Golden Falcons got off to a 5-0 start in the final set and looked like they were going to cruise their way to a five-set win. Mercy had other plans as they came right back with five unanswered of their own to even the score up at 5-5. The score would remain tied at 12-12 late in the frame before the Mavericks closed out the contest with three straight points, capped off by an ace from freshman Kaila Berlovan (Floral Park, N.Y./St. Francis Prep) and a kill from Olson, to give Mercy an improbable comeback victory.
The Mavericks finished with a .190 hitting percentage on the night compared to .072 for the home team and ended the contest with 32 blocks. Mercy also served up 13 aces and had 55 kills in the victory.
Head Coach Kelly Wengerter and the Mavericks will return to action on Saturday, September 19th for a tri-match against Roberts Wesleyan and Bloomfield beginning at 10 a.m.
