DOBBS FERRY, N.Y. (Nov. 12, 2019) – Powered by a match-high 24 kills from senior Imani DeBose (Carson, Calif./The College of New Rochelle) on Senior Night, the Mercy College volleyball team earned a 3-2 (26-24, 25-17, 23-25, 19-25, 17-15) victory over Bloomfield College on Tuesday night at Victory Hall Sports Center.
In a ceremony prior to the match, seniors Jessica Berka (Hicksville, N.Y./St. Dominic), Ciara Rosado (Throggs Neck, N.Y./DeSales University), NeKendra Liddie (Gardena, Calif./The College of New Rochelle) and DeBose were recognized for their contributions to the Mercy College volleyball program.
The Mavericks (13-17) have won four of their last five matches, while the Bears (14-11) have lost two matches in a row. The win comes for Mercy after dropping a 3-0 decision to Bloomfield on October 26th at Goldey-Beacom.
DeBose set a new season high in kills and hit .360, while sophomore Loreto Nunez Casal (Pontevedra, Spain/Sagrado Corazon De Jesus) had 19 kills and four aces. Junior Natalia Garcia (Vega Baja, P.R./Turabo University) had 45 assists and 13 digs and junior Adriana Lopez-Soto (Gurabo, P.R./Notre Dame HS) had 20 digs. Sophomore Selma Vulic (New Rochelle, N.Y./New Rochelle) had six kills and 15 digs. Berka had nine digs and Liddie had three kills.
Bloomfield was led by Danielle Quintanar and Jandra Fabian who both had 12 kills.
The Bears took a 16-10 lead in set one and looked to be on their way to taking the first set. However, the Mavericks battled back and went on a 7-1 to tie the set up at 17-17. Bloomfield scored three straight points to retake the lead at 20-17, forcing a Mercy timeout. Following the timeout, the Mavericks scored five consecutive points, capped off by a Liddie kill, which gave Mercy a 22-20 lead. The Bears rallied with two straight points to tie the set up at 22-22. The Mavericks later held a 24-23 lead with set point after a DeBose kill. A Fabian kill tied the set back up at 24-24 before DeBose and Nunez Casal recorded back-to-back kills to give Mercy the first set, 26-24.
Mercy jumped out to a 7-2 lead in set two following a Garcia kill. The Bears rallied and cut the deficit to one, 12-11. The Mavericks responded with an 11-3 run, finished off by a Berka ace, which gave Mercy a 23-14 lead. The Mavericks led the rest of the way and took the set, 25-17.
Bloomfield took a 15-6 lead in set three and looked to have the set well in hand. Mercy ensued with a 12-2 run ended by a Nunez Casal kill, which put the Mavericks up 18-17. The Bears answered with a 6-1 run to retake the lead at 23-19. Mercy trimmed the deficit to one, 24-23, after a Vulic kill but a Destiny King kill gave the third set to Bloomfield.
The Bears took a 12-9 lead in set four before the Mavericks came back and tied the set up at 18-18 following a DeBose kill. Bloomfield responded with five straight points to take a 23-18 lead and held on for the 25-19 set win to even the match up at 2-2.
Mercy took a 4-1 lead in set five. The Bears went on an 11-5 run to take a 12-9 lead which led to a Mercy timeout. The Mavericks answered with a 5-1 run, finished off by back-to-back kills from DeBose, which gave Mercy a 14-13 lead. Bloomfield tallied two straight points to take a 15-14 lead with match point. Mercy finished off the set and match with two kills from Nunez Casal and an ace from Berka, giving the Mavericks a Senior Night win.
Mercy hit .219 with 61 kills and 72 digs and Bloomfield hit .203 with 51 kills and 58 digs.
Head Coach Georgia Efthalitsides and the Mavericks resume action on Saturday, November 16th when they play at Queens at 12 p.m.
