Olson and Heffernan Help Lead Volleyball to Four-Set Win Over Dominican
Box Score ORANGEBURG, N.Y. (Sept. 8, 2015) – Powered by a team-high 14 kills from freshman Peyton Olson (Albany, Ore./West Albany) and a match-high 22 digs from freshman Brianna Heffernan (East Islip, N.Y./East Islip), the Mercy College volleyball team earned a 3-1 (25-23, 21-25, 25-17, 25-19) victory over Dominican College on Tuesday night at the Hennessy Center.
The Mavericks improve to 1-4 on the young season, while the Chargers remain winless on the year at 0-5.
Olson added seven digs to go along with her 14 kills, while Heffernan added five kills of her own and hit .231. Junior Andrea Velasco (Whittier, Calif./Rio Hondo College) and sophomore Sa'Naya Johnson (Elizabeth, N.J./Elizabeth) each ended up with eight kills with Velasco also adding 17 digs. Orchestrating the offense were setters Toni Parente (East Patchogue, N.Y./Bellport) and Michelle Luna (Costa Mesa, Calif./Costa Mesa) who concluded the night with 18 and 14 assists, respectively.
The home team was led by Kera Dexter who had a match-high 17 kills to go along with 10 digs for a double-double.
The opening set turned out to be the closest as the two teams got off to an 11-11 start. The Mavericks would rally and go on a 6-1 run to take a 17-12 lead in the frame and looked to have things in control. However, the Chargers responded with a 4-0 rally of their own to cut the Mercy lead to 17-16. The Mavericks retook the lead and built it up to 23-19 before Dominican came back with three unanswered to make it 23-22 in favor of Mercy. Olson would show why she was named to the ECC Weekly Honor Roll earlier today by closing off the set with a pair of kills to give the Mavericks a 1-0 lead.
The second set saw the two teams tied at 19-19 late in the frame before the home team rattled off seven of the next eight points to claim their lone set of the night and even things up at 1-1.
In the third stanza, Dominican scored first but that would be the last time the Mavericks trailed in the set as they started on a 6-2 run before building the lead up to eight, 20-12, following a Charger attack error. Dominican got within five, 22-17, but kills from Velasco and senior Abigail Foti (Bedford, N.H./Bedford) helped Mercy close out the set.
The fourth and final set saw the Mavericks jump out to a 6-1 lead before Dominican stormed back and took an 8-7 lead. The two teams would end up tied at 19-19 and with a potential fifth set looming the Mavericks would seal the win with a 6-0 run to close out the match, capped off by a freshman Eva Marie Lynch (New Windsor, N.Y./Cornwall) kill.
The Mavericks hit .098 and finished with a season-high 43 kills in the match, closing out the win with a strong .250 hitting percentage and 15 kills in the final set. Mercy also ended the night with a season-high 75 digs, 38 assists and five service aces.
Head Coach Kelly Wengerter and the Mavericks will look to build off the win as they travel to Goldey-Beacom for a tri-match on Saturday, September 12th beginning at 1 p.m. with a matchup against Cheyney.
