RUTHERFORD, N.J. (Sept. 30, 2018) – Led by a team-high 27 kills from senior Kaitlyn Partridge (Corona, Calif./Mt. San Antonio College), a team-high 89 assists from senior Brooke Runge (Closter, N.J./Northern Valley Demarest) and a team-high 49 digs from senior Neysha Gonzalez (Aguadilla, Puerto Rico/Monroe College), the Mercy College volleyball team dropped a 3-1 (25-18, 18-25, 19-25, 17-25) decision to Pace University before earning a 3-2 (25-15, 15-25, 23-25, 25-18, 15-5) victory over host Felician University on Sunday.
The Mavericks (5-12) have won two of their last three matches, while the Setters (13-3) defeated the Golden Falcons (5-11) in three sets in the first match of the day.
Match 1: Pace 3, Mercy 1
Mercy jumped out to a 13-6 lead in set one following a Partridge kill, forcing a Pace timeout. Out of the timeout, the Setters got within, 14-12, but the Mavericks responded with four straight points to take an 18-12 lead. Pace later cut the deficit to four, but Mercy closed the set with three straight points to earn a 25-18 win in set one.
The Setters responded in the second set by taking a 15-11 lead. Pace later took a 20-12 lead and held on for the 25-18 set two win to even the match at 1-1.
The score was tied at 7-7 in set three after a Leilani Vazquez (Gurabo, Puerto Rico/Adelphi University) kill. The Setters then followed with a 10-3 run to build a 17-10 advantage. Mercy cut the deficit to three, 19-16, on a Loreto Nunez Casal (Pontevedra, Spain/Sagrado Corazon de Jesus) kill, but that would be the closest the Mavericks could get as Pace won set three, 25-19.
Mercy opened the fourth set with an 8-7 lead, but Pace battled back and took a 16-11 lead after a Mercy service error. The Mavericks would cut the deficit to four, but could not get any closer giving the Setters the victory.
Nunez Casal and Vazquez both recorded a match-high 12 kills and Vazquez added 20 digs. Partridge had 11 kills and Gonzalez had a match-high 27 digs. Sophomore Adriana Lopez-Soto (Gurabo, Puerto Rico/Notre Dame HS) finished with 17 digs and Runge posted a career-high-tying 45 assists and had eight digs.
Pace was led by Claudia Fontanet who had a team-high 11 kills.
Mercy hit .181 with 51 kills and 84 digs and Pace hit .219 with 55 kills and 78 digs.
Match 2: Mercy 3, Felician 2
The opening set was tied at 8-8 after a Runge kill before the Mavericks went on an 8-2 run to build a 16-10 lead. Following a Felician timeout, Mercy built a 20-11 lead and led the rest of the way in taking the opening set, 25-15.
Felician scored the first four points in the second set, but Mercy bounced back and tied the set up at 9-9 after a Vazquez kill. The hosts then followed with an 8-2 run to take a 17-11 lead late in the set and held on for the 25-15 victory in set two.
The Golden Falcons took a 7-3 lead in set three and held a 12-8 lead before the Mavericks rallied to tie the set up at 20-20. Felician scored two straight points to take a 22-20 lead and Mercy cut the deficit to one on two separate occasions but a Kahea Aea kill gave the home team a 25-23 set three win.
Mercy needed to win the fourth set to prolong the match and started the set with a 6-1 lead and held a 17-10 advantage after a Runge kill. Felician cut the lead to one, 17-16, but the Mavericks ensued with three straight points to put the lead to 20-16 and kept the lead to send the match into a fifth set.
Felician had a 3-2 lead early in the fifth set, but the Mavericks would close out the set and match on a 13-2 run to secure the road win.
Partridge recorded 16 kills and Runge posted a double-double with 44 assists and 13 digs. Freshman Sarah Watson (Maple Creek, Saskatchewan/Maple Creek) had ten kills and Gonzalez had 22 digs. Lopez-Soto posted 17 digs and Vazquez finished with nine kills and 12 digs.
Felician was led by Kahea Aea who had a team-high 11 kills.
Mercy hit .147 with 57 kills and 88 digs and Felician hit .070 with 39 kills and 79 digs.
Head Coach Georgia Efthalitsides and the Mavericks resume action on Friday, October 5th when they play at Roberts Wesleyan at 7 p.m.
