AMHERST, N.Y. (Nov. 19, 2021) – Despite a team-high 13 kills from senior Tynesha Adams (Prattville, Ala./Bethune Cookman University), the No. 3 seeded Mercy College volleyball team dropped a 3-1 (16-25, 27-25, 23-25, 22-25) decision to No. 2 seeded University of Bridgeport in the East Coast Conference (ECC) Volleyball Championship Semifinals on Friday night at Lumsden Gymnasium.
The Mavericks (13-15) see their season come to an end in the ECC Semifinals for the second straight year and end the season with their highest winning percentage since 2005. The Purple Knights (18-9) advance to the Final where they will take on Daemen tomorrow at 3 p.m.
Adams had 13 kills and junior Yarianne Gonzalez (Manati, P.R./Monroe College) had a double-double with 42 assists and 17 digs. Junior Larissa Schneid (Sao Paulo, Brazil/Iowa Western CC) had 12 kills and 10 digs and junior Stéphanie Lankhorst (Apeldoorn, Netherlands Koninklijke Scholengemeenschap Apeldoorn) had 11 kills. Senior Nilka Rivera Maldonado (Bayamon, P.R./Concordia College) had 13 digs and senior Selma Vulic (New Rochelle, N.Y./New Rochelle) had 12 digs.
Bridgeport was led by Paola Hernandez who had a match-high 18 kills.
Bridgeport took a 7-1 lead in set one and later held a 13-6 lead. Mercy battled back and cut the deficit to three, 15-12, but Bridgeport ended the set on a 10-4 run to take the first set, 25-16.
The second set was tied at 10-10 before Mercy rattled off three straight points to take a 13-10 lead after a Rivera Maldonado kill. The set was later tied at 23-23 before Bridgeport took a 24-23 lead and was one point away from taking the set. Back-to-back kills from Adams and Schneid gave Mercy a 25-24 lead. A bad set evened the set at 25-25 before a service error and Schneid block gave Mercy a 27-25 set two win.
Mercy jumped out to a 13-12 lead in set three after a Lankhorst kill. The set was later tied at 16-16 before Bridgeport went on a 6-0 run to take a 22-16 lead. Back-to-back kills from Lankhorst got Mercy within four, 22-18. Bridgeport followed with two straight points to take a 24-18 lead. Mercy stormed back with five straight points to get within one, 24-23. However, a Mercy attack error gave Bridgeport the 25-23 set three win.
Bridgeport opened the fourth set with a 10-2 lead before Mercy came back on a 7-2 run, capped off by an Adams ace, to make it 12-9. The Mavericks later cut the deficit to one, 17-16, after a Sophia Flanders (Hamden, Conn/Hamden) ace. Bridgeport answered with three straight points to take a 20-16 lead. Mercy continued to battle and a block from Adams cut the Purple Knights lead to two, 24-22. A service error by Mercy gave the Purple Knights the set and match.
Mercy had 47 kills, 72 digs, 43 assists, five blocks, seven aces and hit .147. Bridgeport had 57 kills, 72 digs, 53 assists, 13 blocks, 11 aces and hit .247.
