DOBBS FERRY, N.Y. (Oct. 24, 2018) – Powered by senior Brooke Runge (Closter, N.J./Northern Valley Demarest) recording her 2,000th career assist, the Mercy College volleyball team earned a 3-1 (15-25, 25-21, 26-24, 25-18) win over Goldey-Beacom College on Wednesday night at the Victory Hall Sports Center.
The Mavericks (11-14) have won two matches in a row and are 7-2 in their last nine matches. Mercy matches their most wins since 2013 and are off to their best 25-match start since 2005. The Mavericks also improve to 6-1 at the newly renovated Victory Hall Sports Center. The Lightning (6-20) see their two-match winning streak come to an end.
Runge entered the contest needing 29 assists for 2,000 and would reach the mark in the fourth set and finish with a match-high 35 assists. The senior becomes the fifth Maverick to reach the 2,000 assist mark in a career. Sophomore Leilani Vazquez (Gurabo, Puerto Rico/Adelphi University) added ten kills and 11 digs and seniors Leah Petty (Philadelphia, Pa./Science Leadership Academy) and Kaitlyn Partridge (Corona, Calif./Mt. San Antonio College) also added ten kills. Senior Neysha Gonzalez (Aguadilla, Puerto Rico/Monroe College) produced a match-high 23 digs and sophomore Adriana Lopez-Soto (Gurabo, Puerto Rico/Notre Dame HS) tallied 13 digs.
Goldey-Beacom was led by Lindsay Przywara who had a match-high 21 kills.
The opening set saw the Lightning take a 7-3 lead, but the Mavericks would battle back and tie the set up at 13-13 after a Lopez-Soto ace. Goldey-Beacom would end the set on a 12-2 run to earn a 25-15 win in set one.
The visitors took a 14-6 lead in set two and looked to be on the verge of taking a 2-0 lead. However, Mercy would battle back and respond with a 10-2 run to tie the set at 16-16 after back-to-back aces from freshman Loreto Nunez Casal (Pontevedra, Spain/Sagrado Corazon de Jesus). The Lightning retook the lead at 18-16, but the Mavericks answered back with a 5-0 run to take a 21-18 lead and held off Goldey-Beacom to take the set 25-21.
The Lightning took a 10-5 lead in set three, leading to a Mercy timeout. Following the timeout, Goldey-Beacom built the lead to 13-7 and later held a 17-13 advantage. The Mavericks stormed back with a 9-4 run to take a 22-21 lead. The Lightning would tie the set up at 22-22 and the set would be tied two more times before Mercy ended the set with two straight points to earn a 26-24 set three win.
The Mavericks built an 11-7 lead in set four, but the Lightning tied the set up at 11-11 after four straight points. The score was later tied at 15-15 before Mercy rattled off three straight points to build an 18-15 lead. Goldey-Beacom answered with a point to make it 18-16 before the Mavericks closed out the set on a 7-2 run, capped off by a Petty kill, to secure the match.
Mercy hit .195 with 43 kills and 63 digs and Goldey-Beacom hit .200 with 53 kills and 60 digs.
Head Coach Georgia Efthalitsides and the Mavericks resume action on Friday, October 26th when they play at NYIT at 6 p.m.
