WALTHAM, Mass. (Oct. 5, 2022) – Despite a double-double from senior Yarianne Gonzalez (Manati, P.R./Monroe College), the Mercy College volleyball team dropped a 3-0 (18-25, 17-25, 15-25) decision to Bentley University on Wednesday night at the Dana Center.
The Mavericks (8-3) have lost two of their last three matches, while the Falcons (16-4) have won eight matches in a row.
Gonzalez had a match-high-tying 16 assists to go along with a team-high-tying 12 digs. Senior Julia Pomerleau (Portland, Maine/University of Southern Maine) had a team-high six kills and seniors Larissa Schneid (Sao Paulo, Brazil/Iowa Western CC) and Stéphanie Lankhorst (Apeldoorn, Netherlands/Koninklijke Scholengemeenschap Apeldoorn) both had five kills. Senior Selma Vulic (New Rochelle, N.Y./New Rochelle) added a team-high-tying 12 digs.
Bentley was led by Ellie Wheeler who had a match-high 11 kills.
Mercy opened the first set with back-to-back points to take a 2-0 lead. Bentley answered with nine straight points to take a 9-2 lead. The Mavericks later cut the deficit to four, 10-6, after a Pomerleau kill. The Falcons responded with four straight points to take a 14-6 lead and later increased the lead to 21-9. Mercy continued to battle and trimmed the Bentley lead to 24-18 after a Schneid ace, but a service error gave the Falcons the 25-18 set one win.
Bentley began the second set with a 6-0 lead and later held a 10-1 lead. The Mavericks clawed their way back into the, making it 19-15 after a Falcons attack error. However, Bentley ended the set on a 6-2 spurt to take the second set, 25-17.
The Mavericks took a 3-2 lead in set three after a Pomerleau kill. Bentley followed with a 6-1 run to take an 8-4 lead before back-to-back Mercy points made it 8-6. The Falcons later held a 12-9 lead after a Lankhorst kill but followed with five straight points to take a 17-9 lead. Bentley built the lead to 12, 23-11, before Mercy scored four consecutive points to make it 23-15. The Falcons closed the set with back-to-back points to win the set and match.
Mercy hit .100 with 25 kills, 41 digs, two aces and three blocks and Bentley hit .296 with 42 kills, 44 digs, 10 aces and seven blocks.
Head Coach Ana Todorovic and the Mavericks resume action on Saturday, October 8th when they play at Daemen at 1 p.m.
