DOBBS FERRY, N.Y. (Sept. 7, 2019) – Powered by a team-high 28 kills on the day from sophomore Selma Vulic (New Rochelle, N.Y./New Rochelle), the Mercy College volleyball team earned a 3-1 (25-18, 22-25, 25-16, 25-16) victory over Post University before dropping a hard-fought 3-2 (27-25, 22-25, 25-19, 19-25, 19-21) decision to Franklin Pierce University on Saturday afternoon at the Victory Hall Sports Center.

The Mavericks (2-2) split for the second straight day, while the Ravens (2-0) defeated the Eagles (0-4) in the other match of the day.

Match 1: Mercy 3, Post 1

Mercy jumped out to a 9-0 lead in set one and held a 21-9 lead after a junior Nichole Rivera Maldonado (Bayamon, P.R./Academia Discipulos De Cristo) kill. The Eagles made it 24-18 before senior Imani DeBose (Carson, Calif./The College of New Rochelle) finished off the set with a kill to give Mercy a 25-18 set one win.

The second set was tied at 7-7 before Post went on a 6-2 run to build a 13-9 lead. The Mavericks answered back with a 5-0 run to take the lead, but the visitors went on an 8-2 run to take a 21-16 lead. Mercy cut the deficit to within one, 23-22, but the Eagles ended the set with two straight points to tie the match up at 1-1.

The two teams were tied at 9-9 in set three before Mercy answered with a 14-5 run to take a 23-14 lead following a Rivera Maldonado kill. The Mavericks held on for the 25-16 set three win to take a 2-1 lead.

Mercy scored the first five points of the fourth set and held a 19-10 lead after a Vulic kill. Post cut the deficit to six, but the Mavericks ended the set on a 4-1 run to secure the set and match.

Vulic had a team-high 11 kills along with 11 digs. Junior Natalia Garcia (Vega Baja, P.R./Turabo University) had 23 assists and eight digs. Junior Adriana Lopez-Soto (Gurabo, P.R./Notre Dame HS) had a team-high 18 digs and senior Jessica Berka (Hicksville, N.Y./St. Dominic) had 12 digs.

Post was led by Jayda Roman who had a match-high 12 kills and 19 digs.

Match 2: Franklin Pierce 3, Mercy 2

The opening set of the match saw Franklin Pierce take a 20-17 lead before Mercy scored three straight points to tie the set up at 20-20. The Ravens took a 23-22 lead before the Mavericks came back with two straight points to take a 24-23 lead. Franklin Pierce stormed back with two straight points to take a 25-24 advantage but Mercy closed the set with three straight points, including two kills from Vulic, to give the Mavericks a 27-25 set one win.

Mercy took a 12-8 lead in set two after back-to-back kills from DeBose. The visitors batted back and took a 22-19 lead late in the set. The Mavericks made it a one-point game, 23-22, but the Ravens scored two straight points to take the set, 25-22.

The Mavericks jumped out to a 13-9 edge in set three before Franklin Pierce tied the set up at 15-15. Mercy rallied and scored five straight points to take a 20-15 lead and held on the rest of the way to take the set, 25-19.

Franklin Pierce took a 7-4 lead in set four and made it 14-9 later in the frame. Mercy followed with five straight points to tie the set up at 14-14, forcing a Raven timeout. Out of the timeout, Franklin Pierce scored five straight points to retake the lead at 19-14. The Ravens led the rest of the set to tie the match up at 2-2.

The final set saw Mercy take a 6-4 lead following a Vulic kill. Mercy later led 8-6 before Franklin Pierce responded with two straight points to tie the set up at 8-8. The teams went on to trade points in an entertaining back-and-forth affair leading to the score being tied at 18-18. The Mavericks had three match points before Franklin Pierce had a match point with the score being 19-18 in favor of the visitors. After a Mercy timeout, Rivera Maldonado recorded a kill to tie the set up at 19-19. Franklin Pierce regrouped and slammed home back-to-back kills to give the Ravens the win in a very entertaining match.

DeBose and Vulic both had a team-high 17 kills and Vulic added 14 digs. Garcia had 45 assists and 15 digs and Lopez-Soto had 28 digs. Rivera Maldonado had 11 kills and Berka had ten digs.

Head Coach Georgia Efthalitsides and the Mavericks resume action on Tuesday, September 10th when they host Dominican at 7 p.m.