WILMINGTON, Del. (Oct. 26, 2019) – Led by a double-double from junior Natalia Garcia (Vega Baja, P.R./Turabo University), the Mercy College volleyball team dropped a 3-0 (25-27, 22-25, 15-25) decision to Bloomfield College before earning a 3-0 (25-18, 25-19, 25-20) victory over host Goldey-Beacom College on Saturday afternoon.
The Mavericks (10-16) snap a two-match losing streak, while the Bears (12-8) defeated the Lightning (5-16) in four sets in the other match of the day.
Match 1: Bloomfield 3, Mercy 0
Mercy jumped out to a 17-10 lead in set one, but the Bears stormed back on an 11-4 run to tie the set up at 21-21. The Mavericks later took a 24-23 lead following a Loreto Nunez Casal (Pontevedra, Spain/Sagrado Corazon De Jesus) kill and needed just one more point to take the set. However, Bloomfield tallied two straight points to take a 25-24 lead before Nunez Casal tied the set up at 25-25 following a kill. Back-to-back points from the Bears gave them a 27-25 set one win.
The Mavericks held a 14-12 lead in set two after a Nunez Casal kill. Bloomfield came back and took a 17-16 lead before Mercy tallied three points in a row to take a 19-17 lead. The Bears answered with a 7-2 run to take a 24-21 lead. The Mavericks later made it 24-22 before an attack error by Mercy gave Bloomfield a 25-22 set two win.
Bloomfield took a 14-7 lead in set three and led the rest of the set to take the match in three sets.
Nunez Casal had a team-high 13 kills and Garcia had 24 assists. Junior Adriana Lopez-Soto (Gurabo, P.R./Notre Dame HS) had a team-high eight digs.
Bloomfield was led by Danielle Quintanar who had a match-high 14 kills.
Match 2: Mercy 3, Goldey-Beacom 0
Mercy took a 9-2 lead in set one following a Jessica Berka (Hicksville, N.Y./St. Dominic) ace. The Lightning cut the deficit to four, 16-12, but the Mavericks ensued with a 5-0 run, capped off by an Imani DeBose (Carson, Calif./The College of New Rochelle) kill, which gave Mercy a 21-12 lead. Mercy led the rest of the set and earned a 25-18 set one win.
The Mavericks took a 5-2 lead in set two, forcing a Goldey-Beacom timeout. The Lightning later trailed Mercy 16-13 before the Mavericks went on a 4-1 spurt to take a 20-14 lead. Mercy later made it 24-16 following a Garcia ace, but the Lightning answered with three straight points to bring the score to 24-19. An attack error gave the set to Mercy.
Goldey-Beacom started the set with a 14-10 lead, but Mercy came back on a 10-2 run to take a 20-16 lead. The Lightning later cut the Mavericks lead to 21-19 before back-to-back points put Mercy ahead 23-19. A Julia Syrdahl kill made it 23-20, but Garcia and DeBose responded with back-to-back kills to finish off the set and match.
DeBose had a team-high 12 kills and Garcia had 31 assists and 13 digs. Lopez-Soto had 15 digs and Nunez Casal had ten kills.
Goldey-Beacom was led by Shayla Boyce who had a match-high 14 kills.
Head Coach Georgia Efthalitsides and the Mavericks resume action on Saturday, November 2nd when they host Roberts Wesleyan at 12 p.m.
