DOBBS FERRY, N.Y. (Nov. 3, 2018) – Powered by a team-high 24 kills from freshman Loreto Nunez Casal (Pontevedra, Spain/Sagrado Corazon de Jesus), the Mercy College volleyball team dropped a 3-2 (25-20, 25-23, 11-25, 22-25, 10-15) decision to ECC foe Daemen College before earning a 3-0 (25-18, 25-16, 25-21) victory over Assumption College in a non-conference matchup on Saturday afternoon at the Victory Hall Sports Center.

The Mavericks (14-16, 6-7 ECC) are eliminated from ECC Tournament contention with their loss to the Wildcats (18-10, 12-1 ECC) and the Greyhounds (3-18) end their season with five straight losses.

Match 1: Daemen 3, Mercy 2

The opening set saw the Mavericks jump out to a 14-11 lead before the Wildcats answered back with five straight points to take a 16-14 lead, forcing a Mercy timeout. Out of the timeout, the Mavericks scored five unanswered points to take a 19-16 lead. Mercy held a 22-18 lead after a Kaitlyn Partridge (Corona, Calif./Mt. San Antonio College) kill and held on the rest of the way in securing the first set, 25-20.

Mercy took an 11-5 lead in set two, leading to a Daemen timeout. The Mavericks held a 19-13 lead later in the set before the Wildcats ensued with an 8-2 run to tie the set up at 21-21. Three straight points by Mercy gave them a 24-21 lead and they held on for the 25-23 win after a Nunez Casal kill.

Down two sets, Daemen came out in the third set and led 9-1 and would cruise to the 25-11 win to make it 2-1.

Mercy held an 18-15 lead in set four and later held a 22-20 advantage after a Leilani Vazquez (Gurabo, Puerto Rico/Adelphi University) kill. Daemen ended the set with five straight points to take the set, 25-22, and tie up the match at 2-2.

The Wildcats built an 11-7 lead in set five, forcing a Mercy timeout. Daemen led the rest of the way in securing the set and match.

Vazquez had a team-high-tying 13 kills along with 11 digs and Nunez Casal also had 13 kills. Senior Brooke Runge (Closter, N.J./Northern Valley Demarest) had a match-high 40 assists along with 12 digs and senior Neysha Gonzalez (Aguadilla, Puerto Rico/Monroe College) contributed a match-high-tying 21 digs. Sophomore Natalia Garcia (Vega Baja, Puerto Rico/Turabo University) finished with 11 digs and Partridge had nine kills.

Daemen was led by Sam Logan and Allison Post who had 17 kills each.

Mercy hit .156 with 51 kills and 70 digs and Daemen hit .221 with 63 kills and 84 digs.

Match 2: Mercy 3, Assumption 0

Mercy took a 16-8 lead in set one following a Leah Petty (Philadelphia, Pa./Science Leadership Academy) kill, forcing an Assumption timeout. The Mavericks led the rest of the way and earned a 25-18 set one win, capped off by a Partridge kill.

The two teams were tied at 13-13 in set two before the Mavericks ended the set on a 12-3 run with back-to-back kills from Nunez Casal that ended the set and gave Mercy a 2-0 lead.

The third set saw the teams tied at 9-9 before Mercy went on an 8-3 run to build a 17-12 lead, forcing an Assumption timeout. The Greyhounds cut the Mavericks lead to 23-21, but a kill from Garcia and a block from Petty and Nichole Rivera Maldonado (Bayamon, Puerto Rico/Academia Discipulos de Cristo) gave Mercy the win.

Nunez Casal had a match-high 11 kills and Runge had a match-high 17 assists along with nine digs.

Assumption was led by Kellie Smith who had a team-high nine kills.

Mercy hit .316 with 40 kills and 48 digs and Assumption hit .137 with 33 kills and 43 digs.

Head Coach Georgia Efthalitsides and the Mavericks conclude their season tomorrow when they host Roberts Wesleyan at 12 p.m.