PHILADELPHIA, Pa. (Sept. 1, 2018) – Despite a team-high 17 kills on the day from senior Kaitlyn Partridge (Corona, Calif./Mt. San Antonio College), the Mercy College volleyball team dropped a 3-1 (10-25, 21-25, 26-24, 9-25) decision to 2017 NCAA Tournament participant American International College before falling 3-0 (11-25, 23-25, 26-28) to host Chestnut Hill College on Saturday afternoon.
The Mavericks (2-4) have dropped three matches in a row, while the Yellow Jackets (3-4) beat the Griffins (1-1) in the other match of the day.
Match 1: AIC 3, Mercy 1
The first set of the day for Mercy saw the Yellow Jackets score the first two points and jump out to an 11-3 lead, forcing a Maverick timeout. Out of the timeout, AIC would close out the set on a 14-7 run to take the first set, 25-10.
AIC jumped out to a 3-0 lead in set two, but Mercy would battle back and tie the set up at 9-9. The Yellow Jackets rallied with five straight points to retake the lead at 14-9. The Mavericks later cut the deficit to two, 22-20, after a Leilani Vazquez (Gurabo, Puerto Rico/Adelphi University) kill. However, AIC ended the set with three of the next four points to take a 2-0 lead.
The Yellow Jackets built a 5-0 lead in set three and looked to be on their way to a straight-set win. Mercy had other ideas as they rallied with a 12-4 run to build a 12-9 lead. AIC rallied back and took a 19-17 lead late in the set. The Mavericks retook the lead at 23-22 on a Partridge kill and later held a 24-23 lead following a Vazquez kill. AIC would tie the set up at 24-24 before a kill from Partridge and a ball handling error by the Yellow Jackets gave the set to Mercy.
The fourth set was tied at 1-1 after a Leah Petty (Philadelphia, Pa./Science Leadership Academy) kill. AIC responded with a 9-1 run to build a 10-2 lead and did not look back in securing the set and match.
Petty had a team-high 11 kills and Partridge added ten kills. Sophomore Adriana Lopez-Soto (Gurabo, Puerto Rico/Notre Dame HS) had 13 digs and freshman Sophia Flanders (Hamden, Conn./Hamden) had a match-high 31 assists.
AIC was led by Andrea Serra who had a match-high 15 kills.
Mercy hit .073 with 35 kills and 47 digs and AIC hit .312 with 46 kills and 54 digs.
Match 2: Chestnut Hill 3, Mercy 0
The Mavericks scored the first point of the opening set on a kill by Vazquez. Mercy held a 2-1 lead after a Chestnut Hill service error, but the Griffins came back on a 12-1 run to build a 13-3 advantage they would not relinquish in taking the first set, 25-11.
The second set was a back-and-forth affair with the teams trading the lead early on. After the score was tied at 10-10, Chestnut Hill followed with three straight points to take a 13-10 lead. The Griffins later built the lead up to 19-14 before the Mavericks rattled off three straight points to make it 19-17. Mercy trailed 22-18 before they rallied with five straight points, capped off by a Partridge kill, to take a 23-22 lead. The Griffins ensued with three straight points to take the second set and build a 2-0 advantage.
The final set of the day saw the teams tied at 5-5 before Chestnut Hill followed with an 11-4 run to build a 16-9 lead. The Mavericks had another run in them going on an 11-3 spurt that gave them a 20-19 lead, forcing a Griffin timeout. Out of the timeout, Chestnut Hill would score four straight points to retake the lead at 23-20. They held a 24-21 lead before Mercy answered with four points of their own to take a 25-24 lead, leading to another Griffin timeout. Following the timeout, Chestnut Hill would score three of the final four points of the set to take the set and match.
Vazquez had a team-high nine kills and 15 digs and Partridge had seven kills. Lopez-Soto had 14 digs and Flanders dished out 25 assists with eight digs.
Chestnut Hill was led by Corrine Kalala who had a match-high 11 kills and 19 digs.
Mercy hit .060 with 29 kills and 59 digs and Chestnut Hill hit .215 with 41 kills and 73 digs.
Head Coach Georgia Efthalitsides and the Mavericks resume action on Friday, September 7th when they play Pace at Saint Anselm at 6:15 p.m.
