AMHERST, N.Y. (Sept. 22, 2017) – Despite a team-high five kills from freshman Courtney Gebhardt(Bloomingburg, N.Y./Pine Bush), the Mercy College volleyball team dropped a 3-0 (21-25, 12-25, 17-25) decision to Daemen College in their ECC opener on Friday night at Lumsden Gymnasium.

The Mavericks (3-8, 0-1 ECC) see their two-match winning streak come to an end, while the Wildcats (4-8, 1-0 ECC) begin their defense of last year's ECC Championship with a win.

Gebhardt also had four digs, while junior Brooke Runge (Closter, N.J./Northern Valley Demarest) had a team-high 16 assists. Junior Neysha Gonzalez(Aguadilla, Puerto Rico/Monroe College) finished with a team-high six digs.

Daemen was led by Courtney Scanlan who had a match-high 13 kills, while Georgia Wicker contributed a match-high 20 digs.

The opening set of the night saw the Mavericks jump out to an 11-9 lead after a Nichole Rivera Maldonado (Bayamon, Puerto Rico/Academia Discipulos de Cristo) kill. The Wildcats followed with five straight points to build a 14-11 lead midway through the set. Mercy closed the deficit to 23-21, but Daemen closed out the frame with two straight points to take the opening set, 25-21.

The Wildcats built a 13-10 lead in the early part of the second set before ending the stanza on a 12-2 run to take a commanding 2-0 advantage after winning the second set, 25-12.

Mercy looked to prolong the match and was tied with Daemen at 10-10 in the third set before the hosts rattled off seven straight points to take a 17-10 lead, forcing a Maverick timeout. Out of the timeout, Mercy scored two consecutive points, but could not get closer as the Wildcats concluded the match on an 8-5 run to earn the straight-set win.

The Mavericks hit .036 with 18 kills and 31 digs, while the Wildcats hit .305 with 44 kills and 47 digs.

Head Coach Georgia Efthalitsides and the Mavericks resume action tomorrow when they play at ECC foe Roberts Wesleyan College at 12 p.m.