DOBBS FERRY, N.Y. (Nov. 5, 2019) – Despite a career-high 23 kills from sophomore Loreto Nunez Casal (Pontevedra, Spain/Sagrado Corazon De Jesus), the Mercy College volleyball team dropped a hard-fought 3-1 (21-25, 21-25, 25-21, 25-27) decision to ECC foe Molloy College on Tuesday night at the Victory Hall Sports Center.

The Mavericks (12-17, 4-5 ECC) see their three-match winning streak come to an end, while the Lions (21-4, 9-0 ECC) remain unbeaten in ECC play.

Nunez Casal hit .408 and had a match-high 23 kills. Junior Natalia Garcia (Vega Baja, P.R./Turabo University) had a double-double by way of 46 assists and 17 digs. Junior Adriana Lopez-Soto (Gurabo, P.R./Notre Dame HS) had a team-high 19 digs and sophomore Selma Vulic (New Rochelle, N.Y./New Rochelle) had eight kills and ten digs. Senior Imani DeBose (Carson, Calif./The College of New Rochelle) had 11 kills and sophomore Sophia Flanders (Hamden, Conn./Hamden) had ten digs.

Molloy was led by Kacey Affrunti who had a team-high 21 kills.

The opening set saw the Mavericks jump out to a 15-13 lead before the Lions rallied with six straight points to take a 19-15 lead. Mercy cut the deficit to three, 22-19, after a Nunez Casal kill, but the visitors answered with two straight points to build a 24-19 lead. Back-to-back points for the Mavericks made it 24-21 before a Carly Banks kill gave Molloy the victory in set one.

Molloy scored the first five points in set two, leading to a Mercy timeout. Following the timeout, the Mavericks answered back with five consecutive points, capped off by a DeBose kill. The Lions ensued with a 5-1 run to take a 10-6 lead before Mercy battled back with an 8-3 run to take a 14-13 lead. Molloy followed with four straight points to take a 17-14 lead. The Lions increased the lead to five, 24-19, before a kill and ace from Vulic made it 24-21, leading to a Molloy timeout. An attack error after the timeout, gave the Lions a 25-21 set two win.

Mercy took a 9-6 lead in set three leading to a Molloy timeout. The Mavericks increased the lead to 18-11 after a Nunez Casal kill before the Lions scored two straight to make it 18-13. Mercy ensued with two of the next three points to take a 20-14 lead, which led to a Molloy timeout. Following the timeout, the Lions cut the deficit to three, 21-18, leading to a Mercy timeout. The guests later made it 22-20, but the Mavericks closed out the set with three of the next four points to take the third set, 25-21.

The Mavericks jumped out to a 12-7 lead in set four after a Nichole Rivera Maldonado (Bayamon, P.R./Academia Discipulos De Cristo) kill. Mercy later held a 21-17 lead after a Molloy attack error, which led to a Molloy timeout. The Lions made it 22-20 before a DeBose kill and Lion attack error gave the Mavericks set point at 24-20. Molloy scored the next four points to tie the set up at 24-24, but Nunez Casal put the Mavericks back in front with another kill to make it 25-24. The Lions ensued with three more points in a row to secure the set, 27-25, and match in four sets.

Mercy hit .182 with 57 kills and 66 digs and Molloy hit .258 with 60 kills and 84 digs.

Head Coach Georgia Efthalitsides and the Mavericks resume action on Tuesday, November 12th when they host Bloomfield for Senior Day at 7 p.m.