DOBBS FERRY, N.Y. (Sept. 29, 2018) – Powered by a team-high 16 kills from senior Leah Petty (Philadelphia, Pa./Science Leadership Academy) and sophomore Leilani Vazquez (Gurabo, Puerto Rico/Adelphi University) and a double-double from senior Brooke Runge (Closter, N.J./Northern Valley Demarest), the Mercy College volleyball team earned their first win over ECC foe NYIT since 2005 with a 3-1 (23-25, 25-22, 25-22, 25-15) victory over the Bears on Saturday afternoon at Victory Gym.
The Mavericks (4-11, 2-3 ECC) snap a two-match losing streak, while the Bears (9-9, 1-4 ECC) fail to build off their win from last night.
Petty reached a career high in kills and hit .412 and Vazquez added 11 digs for a double-double. Runge posted 42 assists and ten digs and senior Neysha Gonzalez (Aguadilla, Puerto Rico/Monroe College) had a match-high 24 digs. Senior Kaitlyn Partridge (Corona, Calif./Mt. San Antonio College) finished with ten kills and five digs.
NYIT was led by Tiffany Verni who had a match-high 30 kills.
The Bears jumped out to a 12-4 lead in set one and looked to be in cruise control. However, the Mavericks rallied with a 10-4 run to cut the deficit to two, 16-14, after a Petty kill. Mercy got within one, 24-23, late in the set after a Vazquez kill, but NYIT would score the next point to take the set, 25-23.
NYIT took an 8-5 lead in set two, leading to a Mercy timeout. Out of the timeout, the Mavericks fell behind 17-11 and looked to be on their way to dropping the second set. Mercy had other plans as they rebounded with an 8-2 run to tie the set up at 19-19. The set was later tied at 22-22, but the Mavericks finished off the set with three straight points, capped off by a Petty kill, to take the second set, 25-22.
Mercy built a 13-9 lead in set three, forcing an NYIT timeout. The Mavericks later increased the lead to 17-11 after a Vazquez kill. NYIT would take a 22-21 lead after an 11-4 run, but Mercy regrouped and ended the set with four straight points to earn a 25-22 set three win.
The Mavericks started the fourth set with a 14-7 lead after a Petty kill and held a 19-12 lead later in the set. The Bears cut the deficit to 21-15, but that would be as close as they could get as Mercy rattled off four straight points to secure the match.
Mercy hit. 271 with 55 kills and 73 digs and NYIT hit .156 with 59 kills and 79 digs.
Head Coach Georgia Efthalitsides and the Mavericks resume action tomorrow when they play Pace and Felician at Felician starting at 2 p.m.
