WEST HAVEN, Conn. (Oct. 12, 2019) – Despite a team-high 31 kills on the day from senior Imani DeBose (Carson, Calif./The College of New Rochelle), the Mercy College volleyball team dropped a 3-1 (25-23, 25-27, 21-25, 22-25) decision to Le Moyne College before falling 3-1 (17-25, 23-25, 25-17, 30-32) to University of New Haven on Saturday afternoon.
The Mavericks (7-13) have dropped three matches in a row, while New Haven (9-6) lost to Le Moyne (10-6) in the other match of the day.
Match 1: Le Moyne 3, Mercy 1
Mercy took a 3-0 lead in set one and led 11-6 after a NeKendra Liddie (Gardena, Calif./The College of New Rochelle) kill. The Dolphins followed with three straight points to make it 11-9, but the Mavericks answered with three straight of their own to put the lead to 14-9. Mercy later took a 17-11 lead following a Natalia Garcia (Vega Baja, P.R./Turabo University) kill, but Le Moyne ensued with a 10-3 run to take a 21-20 lead. After a Maverick timeout, back-to-back points gave the Mavericks a 22-21 lead. Le Moyne tied the set up at 22-22, but Mercy closed the set on a 3-1 run spurt to take the set, 25-23.
The Mavericks jumped out to an 8-6 lead in set two following a DeBose kill. Le Moyne followed with a 4-1 run to take a 10-9 lead before Mercy went on a 5-0 run to take a 14-10 lead. The Mavericks held a 15-11 lead after a Le Moyne service error, but the Dolphins battled back and tied the set up at 20-20. After a Mercy timeout, Le Moyne took a 24-22 lead and had set point. However, the Mavericks clawed their way back with two straight points to make it 24-24. The Dolphins ended the set with three of the final four points to earn the set victory, 27-25.
Le Moyne took a 10-3 lead in set three and led the rest of the set to take a 2-1 lead in the match.
Mercy held a 10-8 lead in set four after a DeBose kill, but the Dolphins came back and took a 14-12 lead. The Mavericks tied the set up at 14-14 and the teams would trade points with the score being 19-19 later in the set. Le Moyne tallied four straight points to build a 23-19 lead and held off a late Mercy rally to secure the set and match.
DeBose had a match-high 20 kills and Garcia had a match-high-tying 41 assists with eight kills and 18 digs. Junior Adriana Lopez-Soto (Gurabo, P.R./Notre Dame HS) had 20 digs and Liddie had 12 kills. Sophomore Selma Vulic (New Rochelle, N.Y./New Rochelle) had 14 digs and six kills and sophomore Loreto Nunez Casal (Pontevedra, Spain/Sagrado Corazon De Jesus) had nine kills.
Le Moyne was led by Mary Talty who had a team-high 17 kills.
Match 2: New Haven 3, Mercy 1
The Mavericks took a 4-1 lead in set one after a DeBose kill. Mercy later held a 10-8 lead before the Chargers came back on a 10-2 run to take an 18-12 lead. New Haven led the rest of the set to take a 1-0 lead.
New Haven jumped out to a 12-6 lead in set two and later held a 22-17 lead. The Mavericks battled back and cut the deficit to one on two occasions, but a Kali Greathead kill gave the set to the Chargers, 25-23.
Mercy built a 7-2 lead in set three before New Haven answered back and cut the lead to two, 12-10. The Mavericks followed with a 5-1 run, capped off by a Liddie kill, which made it 17-11. Mercy held the lead for the remainder of the set and a Nunez Casal kill finished off the set to give the Mavericks a 25-17 victory.
New Haven held a 16-12 lead in set four and looked to be pulling away from Mercy. However, the Mavericks continued to fight and rallied to take a 22-21 lead in the set following a Liddie kill. New Haven responded by taking a 24-23 lead and needed just one point to take the match. A service error by the Chargers tied the set up at 24-24. A DeBose kill gave the Mavericks a 25-24 lead and a set point to extend the match. After surviving two more set points for the Chargers, Mercy scored two straight points to take a 28-27 lead for their own set point. New Haven followed with two points in a row to hold another match point at 29-28. The teams traded points to give the Chargers another match point holding a 30-29 lead. A Nunez Casal kill made it 30-30, but the hosts scored the final two points to earn a 32-30 set four win to earn the match win.
Nunez Casal had a team-high 15 kills along with 15 digs and Garcia had 35 assists, seven kills and 22 digs. DeBose had 11 kills and Lopez-Soto had 20 digs. Vulic had 12 digs and seven kills and sophomore Sophia Flanders (Hamden, Conn./Hamden) had 12 digs. Liddie had seven kills and senior Jessica Berka (Hicksville, N.Y./St. Dominic) had 11 digs.
New Haven was led by Kali Greathead who had a match-high 21 kills.
Head Coach Georgia Efthalitsides and the Mavericks resume action on Wednesday, October 16th when they host Queens at 7 p.m.
