Olson Slams Home Match-High 14 Kills as Volleyball Opens Up Season Against NYIT
Box Score DOBBS FERRY, N.Y. (Sept. 13, 2016) – Despite a match high 14 kills from sophomore Peyton Olson (Albany, Ore./West Albany), the Mercy College volleyball team open up its 2016 season with a 3-0 (13-25, 16-25, 19-25) setback to NYIT in an East Coast Conference (ECC) matchup on Tuesday night at Victory Gymnasium.
The Mavericks (0-1, 0-1 ECC) drop their season opener, while the Bears (9-0, 1-0 ECC) remain undefeated on the season.
Olson added eight digs, while sophomore Brooke Runge (Closter, N.J./Northern Valley Demarest) dished out 23 assists and had nine digs. Sophomore Brianna Heffernan (East Islip, N.Y./East Islip) added a team high 14 digs and senior Andrea Velasco (Whittier, Calif./Rio Hondo College) had five kills and seven digs.
NYIT was led by Tiffany Verni who had 13 kills and hit .312 on the night. Portia McIntosh ended the contest with a match high 18 digs and Karolina Moderova added a double-double with ten kills and 14 digs.
The Mavericks faced a tall task in taking on an NYIT squad that had already played eight matches after advancing to the Elite Eight a year ago. However, Mercy put up a fight throughout as they opened the first set with a 5-4 lead. The Bears came right back with five unanswered to take the lead for good as they took the opening set, 25-13.
The second set saw the visitors jump out to a 5-1 lead and looked to be pulling away from the Mavericks. Mercy responded with an 8-3 run to take a 9-8 lead following an Olson kill. The momentum was short-lived as NYIT put together six straight points to take a 14-9 lead and led the rest of the way to take a 2-0 lead.
The Bears jumped out to an 8-1 lead in the final set before the Mavericks rattled off four straight points to get within, 8-5. That would be the closest the Mavericks got as NYIT came back with four unanswered points to take a 12-5 lead and would hold on for the victory.
The Mavericks hit .009 on the night with 25 kills and 45 digs, while the Bears finished with a .204 hitting percentage, 37 kills and 63 digs.
Head Coach Georgia Efthalitsides and the Mavericks look to bounce back as they travel to Pace University for a 7 p.m. first serve on Friday, September 16th.
