EAST STROUDSBURG, Pa. (Nov. 4, 2017) – Despite a team-high 13 kills on the day from senior Sa'Naya Johnson (Elizabeth, N.J./Elizabeth), the Mercy College volleyball team dropped 3-0 decisions to Edinboro University (21-25, 14-25, 11-25) and East Stroudsburg University (11-25, 18-25, 17-25) on Saturday afternoon at East Stroudsburg University.
The Mavericks (7-23) fail to build off their win from Wednesday, while Edinboro (19-8) defeated East Stroudsburg (15-12) in four sets in the other match of the day.
Edinboro 3, Mercy 0
The opening set of the day saw a back-and-forth battle early on as the score was tied at 10-10. The score remained tied at 17-17 before Edinboro rattled off four straight points to take a 21-17 lead. Mercy cut the deficit to three, 24-21, on a Kaitlyn Partridge (Corona, Calif./Mt. San Antonio College) kill, but a Mavericks attack error gave Edinboro the 25-21 win in set one.
Mercy took an early 2-1 lead in set two, but Edinboro followed with a 16-6 run to take a 17-8 lead, forcing a Mercy timeout. Out of the timeout, Edinboro went on a 3-1 run to pull away from the Mavericks, taking a 2-0 lead.
The final set of the match saw Mercy score the first two points before Edinboro ensued with a 22-7 run to take a 22-9 lead. Edinboro led the rest of the way in securing the set and the match.
Freshman Courtney Gebhardt (Bloomingburg, N.Y./Pine Bush) led Mercy with seven kills, while Johnson had six kills. Junior Neysha Gonzalez (Aguadilla, Puerto Rico/Monroe College) had a team-high seven digs and junior Brooke Runge (Closter, N.J./Northern Valley Demarest) added 20 assists and six digs.
Edinboro was led by Challen Litwiler who had a match-high 14 kills.
East Stroudsburg 3, Mercy 0
The final match of the day saw East Stroudsburg start the match with an 11-4 lead and they would not look back in taking the first set, 25-11.
The Warriors led from start-to-finish in the second set, jumping out to a 19-10 lead. The Mavericks fought back and got within four, 20-16, after a Partridge kill, but the hosts ended the set on a 5-2 run to earn a 25-18 set two win.
East Stroudsburg started the final set with an 11-5 lead before Mercy clawed their way back and made it 14-13. However, the Warriors closed out the set and match on an 11-4 run to secure the match in three sets.
Sophomore Gabriella Fernandes (Islip, N.Y./Islip) had a team-high eight kills, while Johnson had seven kills. Runge contributed 21 assists and five digs and Gonzalez finished with 17 digs.
East Stroudsburg was led by Sarah Smith who had a match-high 12 kills.
Head Coach Georgia Efthalitsides and the Mavericks resume action on Tuesday, November 7th when they play at NYIT at 7 p.m.
