Olson Slams Home 30 Kills as Volleyball Hosts Roberts Wesleyan and Bloomfield
Box Score 1 |
Box Score 2 DOBBS FERRY, N.Y. (Sept. 19, 2015) – Despite 30 kills and 18 digs from freshman Peyton Olson (Albany, Ore./West Albany), the Mercy College volleyball team dropped a narrow 3-2 (19-25, 22-25, 25-19, 25-20, 12-15) decision to Roberts Wesleyan College in their East Coast Conference opener before falling to Bloomfield College, 3-0 (24-26, 23-25, 27-29) on Saturday afternoon at Mercy Gymnasium.
The Mavericks (4-7, 0-1 ECC) see their two-match winning streak come to an end, while the Redhawks (1-8, 1-0 ECC) dropped a straight-set match to Bloomfield (7-1) in the other match of the day.
Also contributing for the Mavericks was sophomore Sa'Naya Johnson (Elizabeth, N.J./Elizabeth) who finished with 15 kills on the day, while freshman Brianna Heffernan (East Islip, N.Y./East Islip) ended with 10 kills and 37 digs. Junior Michelle Luna (Costa Mesa, Calif./Costa Mesa) capped off the day with 32 assists and ten digs and freshman Toni Parente (East Patchogue, N.Y./Bellport) dished out 28 assists with 13 digs.
Leading Roberts Wesleyan was Kate Steger who finished with a match-high 17 kills to go along with 14 digs.
Bloomfield was paced by Valerie Bermudez who posted a match-high 20 kills and also finished with 15 digs.
Roberts Wesleyan 3, Mercy 2
The first match of the day saw the Mavericks fall in a two-set deficit before climbing back and forcing a deciding fifth set, where they could not finish off the comeback like they did at Felician on Thursday.
The first set of the match saw the visitors from Rochester lead from start-to-finish, building as much as a seven-point lead, 17-10, before holding on for a 25-19 win to take a 1-0 lead.
Mercy jumped out to a 7-3 lead in the second stanza, capped off by an Olson kill that forced a Redhawks timeout. Out of the timeout, Roberts Wesleyan responded with six unanswered to build a 9-7 advantage. However, the Mavericks clawed their way back and took a late 20-18 lead off a kill from Johnson, but the Redhawks came back with seven of the next nine points to take a 2-0 lead.
With Mercy facing a similar situation as their last game, the Mavericks came out and took a 7-2 lead before cruising their way to a third set victory to make it 2-1.
The Mavericks came out playing well once again in the fourth set realizing what was at stake as they jumped out to a 19-7 lead and held off a late Roberts Wesleyan rally to even the match up at 2-2, forcing a deciding fifth set.
The fifth set saw Mercy score first on a kill by Johnson but the Redhawks rallied with a 5-1 run to take a 5-2 lead. Kills by Johnson and Heffernan made it 5-4, but the guests scored four in a row to make it 9-4 and they would hold on for the victory.
Olson finished with 16 kills and five digs in the match hitting an efficient .333, while Heffernan slammed home nine kills and had a match-high 17 digs. Johnson also finished with nine kills and Luna had a team-high 19 assists.
The Mavericks ended the match hitting .082 with 41 kills and 57 digs compared to a .126 hitting percentage, 47 kills and 66 digs from the opposition.
Bloomfield 3, Mercy 0
The final match of the day saw a close contest breakout as all three sets were decided by two points.
The opening set saw a back-and-forth affair as the teams traded the lead multiple times with Bloomfield taking a 20-14 lead late. However, the Mavericks came back and took a 23-22 advantage, following a 6-0 run that forced a Bears timeout. Mercy took a 24-23 lead late in the set, needing one point for the victory, but Bloomfield ensued with the next three points to close out the set.
The largest lead in the second set would be three as the Bears took a 13-10 lead midway through the set. The visitors maintained a 20-18 edge before Mercy ensued with four unanswered to build a 22-20 margin. Following a pair of Bloomfield points, an Olson kill put the Mavericks up 23-22, but the Bears closed the frame with three straight to take a 2-0 lead.
Bloomfield got off to a 15-11 start in the third before Mercy took the lead, 24-23, needing one point to take the set. The Bears would hang in and despite the Mavericks having two more chances to take the set, Bloomfield would seal the match with three straight points after Mercy held a 27-26 advantage.
Olson ended the match with a double-double, finishing with 14 kills and 13 digs, while Heffernan had a match-high-tying 20 digs. Parente also finished with a double-double with 16 assists and ten digs, while junior Andrea Velasco (Whittier, Calif./Rio Hondo College) added five kills and 11 digs.
Head Coach Kelly Wengerter and the Mavericks will look to bounce back as they travel to Pace University on Tuesday, September 22nd for a 6 pm start.
