Olson Records Team-High Nine Kills as Volleyball Travels to Pace
Box Score PLEASANTVILLE, N.Y. (Sept. 16, 2016) – Despite a team high nine kills from sophomore Peyton Olson (Albany, Ore./West Albany), the Mercy College volleyball team dropped a 3-0 (15-25, 14-25, 13-25) decision to Pace University in a non-conference matchup on Friday night at the Goldstein Fitness Center.
The Mavericks (0-2) drop their second straight match to begin the season, while the Setters (8-2) have won three in a row.
Olson also added ten digs, while senior Andrea Velasco (Whittier, Calif./Rio Hondo College) ended the match with six kills and five digs. Sophomore Brooke Runge (Closter, N.J./Northern Valley Demarest) chipped in 19 assists and nine digs and sophomore Brianna Heffernan (East Islip, N.Y./East Islip) netted a team high 12 digs.
Pace was led by Claudia Fontanet who had a match high 13 kills and added 15 digs for a double-double.
The Setters got off to a strong start in their home opener as they jumped out to a 5-0 lead in the opening set before a kill from Velasco got the Mavericks on the board. Pace built the lead to 18-8 before Mercy responded with four straight points to cut the deficit to 20-14 following a kill by sophomore Leah Petty (Philadelphia, Pa./Science Leadership Academy). However, the Setters came back with five of the next six points to close out the set.
The second set of the night saw the Mavericks open up a 3-2 lead early before Pace rattled off seven straight points to take a 9-3 lead. Mercy would not back down and followed with a 10-2 run to take a 13-11 lead, forcing a Pace timeout. The Setters regrouped and scored three unanswered to take the lead back at 14-13. Olson followed with a kill to knot the score up at 14-14, but Pace closed the set on an 11-0 run to take the second set and build a 2-0 lead.
The final set of the night found the two teams tied at 5-5 after another kill by Olson. The Setters went on a 7-1 run to build the lead to 12-6 and would not look back in taking the set and the match.
The Mavericks hit .009 on the night with 20 kills and 48 digs, while the Setters concluded the night hitting .245 with 41 kills and 70 digs.
Head Coach Georgia Efthalitsides and the Mavericks will look to bounce back when they host Bridgeport in an ECC matchup on Thursday, September 22nd at 7 p.m.
