EAST STROUDSBURG, Pa. (Aug. 23, 2018) – Powered by double-doubles from senior Brooke Runge (Closter, N.J./Northern Valley Demarest) and sophomore Leilani Vazquez (Gurabo, Puerto Rico/Adelphi University), the Mercy College volleyball team opened up their 2018 season with a 3-0 (25-22, 25-20, 25-16) victory over Bloomfield College before falling to East Stroudsburg University, 3-0 (17-25, 20-25, 14-25), on Thursday afternoon.
The Mavericks (1-1) win their season opener for the first time since 2011, while the Bears (0-2) fell to the Warriors (2-0) in the other match of the day.
Mercy 3, Bloomfield 0
The opening set of the day saw the two teams tied at 14-14 midway through the set. Bloomfield answered with two straight points to take a 16-14 advantage. Mercy came back with an 8-1 run to build a 22-17 lead late in the set. The Bears cut the deficit to 24-22, but the Mavericks closed out the set after a Bloomfield attack error to take a 1-0 lead after one set.
The two teams were tied at 5-5 in the second set before the Mavericks went on a 9-3 run, capped off by a Neysha Gonzalez (Aguadilla, Puerto Rico/Monroe College) kill, that gave Mercy a 14-8 lead, leading to a Bloomfield timeout. The Mavericks held the lead the rest of the way and a kill from Vazquez finished off the set, giving Mercy a commanding 2-0 lead.
The Mavericks jumped out to a 16-9 lead in set three and did not look back in securing the final set, 25-16, to take the match 3-0.
Vazquez opened her Mercy career with a double-double by way of a match-high 20 kills along with 16 digs. Runge also had a double-double with 28 assists and 14 digs. Sophomore Adriana Lopez-Soto (Gurabo, Puerto Rico/Notre Dame HS) had a match-high 22 digs and senior Kaitlyn Partridge (Corona, Calif./Mt. San Antonio College) and Gonzalez had eight kills.
Bloomfield was led by Jakara Henry who had a team-high nine kills.
Mercy hit .219 in the match with 49 kills and 68 digs, while Bloomfield hit .097 with 31 kills and 53 digs.
East Stroudsburg 3, Mercy 0
Mercy jumped out to a 2-0 lead in set one of the second match of the day following two kills from freshman Sarah Watson (Maple Creek, Saskatchewan/Maple Creek Composite). The Warriors responded with a 15-7 run to build a 15-9 lead, forcing a Mercy timeout. The Mavericks closed the deficit to 22-17 after another kill from Watson, but East Stroudsburg finished off the set with three straight points to take a 1-0 lead.
The Mavericks took a 6-5 lead in the second set and the teams were later tied at 18-18. The Warriors retook the lead with four straight points, building a 22-18 advantage. Mercy made it 22-20 before East Stroudsburg scored three points in a row to take set two, 25-20.
The Warriors jumped out to a 7-0 lead in set three and did not look back in securing the set and match. The Mavericks got within, 13-9, after a kill by Gonzalez, but East Stroudsburg would end the match on a 12-5 run.
Vazquez finished with a team-high six kills and had ten digs. Freshman Sophia Flanders (Hamden, Conn./Hamden) dished out 14 assists and had five digs. Lopez-Soto had a match-high-tying 16 digs.
East Stroudsburg was led by Sarah Smith and Andrea Coyle who both had eight kills.
Mercy hit -.029 with 20 kills and 43 digs and East Stroudsburg hit .257 with 40 kills and 54 digs.
Head Coach Georgia Efthalitsides and the Mavericks resume action on Monday, August 27th when they host Dominican College in their home opener at Dobbs Ferry High School at 7 p.m.
