Olson and Velasco Combine For 36 Kills and 41 Digs as Volleyball Earns Five-Set Victory Over Roberts Wesleyan
Box Score DOBBS FERRY, N.Y. (Oct. 16, 2016) – Sophomore Peyton Olson (Albany, Ore./West Albany) and senior Andrea Velasco (Whittier, Calif./Rio Hondo College) combined for 36 kills and 41 digs as the Mercy College volleyball team earned an exciting 3-2 (21-25, 25-23, 25-18, 18-25, 17-15) victory over Roberts Wesleyan College in an ECC matchup on Sunday afternoon at Victory Gymnasium.
The Mavericks (3-11, 2-5 ECC) snap a two-game losing streak with the win and are now 3-4 at home, while the Redhawks (6-11, 3-4 ECC) have dropped four matches in a row.
Olson ended the contest with a match high 23 kills on .322 hitting and added 16 digs. Velasco contributed a match high 25 digs and put down 13 kills. Sophomore Brooke Runge (Closter, N.J./Northern Valley Demarest) dished out 39 assists and added eight kills and eight digs. Senior Floriana Rraci (Cortlandt Manor, N.Y./Walter Panas) produced 11 digs and junior Sa'Naya Johnson (Elizabeth, N.J./Elizabeth) and sophomore Leah Petty (Philadelphia, Pa./Science Leadership Academy) each recorded six kills.
Roberts Wesleyan was led by Alexandre Tahauri who had 16 kills and 16 digs.
The opening set of the match saw the set tied at 5-5 before the Redhawks rattled off five straight points to take a 10-5 lead. The Mavericks would get within one point, 17-16, after a Petty kill, but the visitors came back with four of the next five points to take a 21-17 lead they would not relinquish.
Mercy began the second set with a 5-1 lead, forcing a timeout by Roberts Wesleyan. The Redhawks tied the set up at 22-22 looking to take a 2-0 lead before the Mavericks closed out the frame with three of the next four points to take the set, capped off by a kill from Velasco.
The third set saw the guests open up the scoring, but Mercy ensued with five straight points, forcing another Roberts Wesleyan timeout. The Mavericks built the lead up to eight, 19-11, and did not look back in taking a 2-1 lead.
The fourth set saw the score tied at 16-16 before the Redhawks closed the frame on a 9-2 run to close out the set and even up the match at 2-2.
In the fifth and final set, the score was tied at 7-7 after another Velasco kill before Roberts Wesleyan followed with a 6-2 run to take a 13-9 lead. The Redhawks looked to be on the verge of securing the match, but Mercy had other ideas as they fought to match points for Roberts Wesleyan to even the set up at 14-14 after a Velasco kill. The Redhawks regained the lead on a Mercy attack error before the Mavericks responded with three straight points, including two kills from Olson, to close out the set and match.
Mercy hit .187 with 57 kills and 86 digs, while Roberts Wesleyan hit .199 with 65 kills and 87 digs.
Head Coach Georgia Efthalitsides and the Mavericks look to make it two wins in a row when they play at Bridgeport on Thursday, October 20th at 7 p.m.
