ROCHESTER, N.Y. (Oct. 22, 2022) – Powered by three Mavericks recording double-digit kills and a career-high 52 assists from senior Yarianne Gonzalez (Manati, P.R./Monroe College), the Mercy College volleyball team earned a 3-1 win over ECC foe Roberts Wesleyan University on Saturday afternoon at Voller Athletic Center.

The Mavericks (11-4, 4-2 ECC) have won three matches in a row and continue their best start since 2005. Mercy sweeps the season series with the Redhawks (3-16, 1-5 ECC) and have won six straight meetings with Roberts Wesleyan.

Junior Anyelainy Vizcaino Araujo (Santo Domingo Oeste, D.R./Southwestern CC) had a match-high 16 kills and senior Tanializ Rivera (Carolina, P.R./Concordia College) had a season-high 15 kills with seven digs on .519 hitting. Senior Julia Pomerleau (Portland, Maine/University of Southern Maine) had 13 kills on .600 hitting and Gonzalez had a match-high 52 assists with nine digs and three kills. Senior Nilka Rivera Maldonado (Bayamon, P.R./Concordia College) had nine kills and seven digs and senior Stéphanie Lankhorst (Apeldoorn, Netherlands/Koninklijke Scholengemeenschap Apeldoorn) had eight kills. Senior Selma Vulic (New Rochelle, N.Y./New Rochelle) had a match-high 16 digs, sophomore Sydney Whitfield (Clemson, S.C./D.W Daniel) had eight digs and freshman Samantha Cooney (Nyack, N.Y./Nyack) had six digs.

Roberts Wesleyan was led by Sydney Yanak who had a team-high nine kills.

The first set was tied at 2-2 before Mercy went on a 6-1 run to take an 8-3 lead. The Redhawks scored the next four points to make it 8-7, but the Mavericks responded with six consecutive points to take a 14-7 lead after a Vizcaino Araujo kill. Roberts Wesleyan later cut Mercy's lead to three, 18-15, before back-to-back kills from Rivera and a Redhawk attack error gave the Mavericks a 21-15 lead. A Laura Amaya kill made it 21-16 before Mercy closed the set with four straight points to take the set 25-16, after a Pomerleau kill.

Mercy took an 8-4 lead in set two before two straight points by the hosts made it 8-6. The Mavericks rallied with a 9-2 run to increase their lead to nine, 17-8. The Redhawks trimmed Mercy's lead to six, 20-14, before the Mavericks netted four unanswered points to take a 24-14 lead after a Gonzalez kill. Roberts Wesleyan scored the next two points to make it 24-16 before a Pomerleau kill gave Mercy the set, 25-16.

Roberts Wesleyan jumped out to an 11-4 lead in set three and later held a 20-15 lead. Mercy followed with a 5-1 run to cut the deficit to one, 21-20, after a Vizcaino Araujo kill. The Redhawks scored the next three points to take a 24-20 lead. Mercy survived multiple set points to tie the score at 24-24 after a Rivera kill. The teams traded points to make it 25-25 before the Redhawks scored the final two points of the set to earn the 27-25 set three win.

The fourth set was tied at 3-3 before Mercy went on a 12-4 run, finished off by a Rivera Maldonado kill, to make it 15-7. Roberts Wesleyan later made the score 19-11 before the Mavericks closed the set on a 6-1 run, finished off by a Vizcaino Araujo kill, to win the set and match.

Mercy hit a season-high .439 with 64 kills, 58 digs, five blocks and eight aces. Roberts Wesleyan hit .169 with 40 kills, 38 digs, one block and seven aces.

Head Coach Ana Todorovic and the Mavericks resume action on Wednesday, October 26th when they host Molloy at 7 p.m.