BUFFALO, N.Y. (Oct. 9, 2022) – Powered by a match-high 16 kills from junior Anyelainy Vizcaino Araujo (Santo Domingo Oeste, D.R./Southwestern CC) and a match-high 36 assists and 14 digs from senior Yarianne Gonzalez (Manati, P.R./Monroe College), the Mercy College volleyball team earned a 3-1 (20-25, 25-19, 25-12, 25-15) victory over ECC foe D'Youville University on Sunday afternoon at College Center Gym.
The Mavericks (9-4, 3-2 ECC) snap a two-match losing streak and move over .500 in ECC play. The Saints (4-18, 0-5 ECC) have dropped 15 matches in a row.
Vizcaino Araujo recorded double-digit kills for the second straight match and had five digs and three aces. Gonzalez produced her fourth straight double-double and fifth overall this season with 36 assists and 14 digs. Senior Selma Vulic (New Rochelle, N.Y./New Rochelle) also had a match-high-tying 14 digs and senior Julia Pomerleau (Portland, Maine/University of Southern Maine) added 10 kills on .471 hitting with five blocks. Senior Nilka Rivera Maldonado (Bayamon, P.R./Concordia College) had six kills and five digs and senior Tanializ Rivera (Carolina, P.R./Concordia College) had six kills and seven digs. Senior Stéphanie Lankhorst (Apeldoorn, Netherlands/Koninklijke Scholengemeenschap Apeldoorn) had five kills and four blocks.
D'Youville was led by Isabelle Prentice who had a team-high 11 kills.
The Saints jumped out to a 7-1 lead in set one before Mercy scored three straight points to make it 7-4. The Mavericks later cut the D'Youville lead to one, 10-9, but the hosts rallied with four of the next five points to take a 14-10 lead. The Saints later built the lead to 21-16 before three straight points by Mercy, capped off by a Vizcaino Araujo kill, made it 21-19. D'Youville ended the set on a 4-1 run to take the set, 25-20.
D'Youville took a 9-6 lead in set two before Mercy scored the next six points, capped off by a Lankhorst block, to take a 12-9 lead. The Saints later cut the Mavericks lead to two, 19-17, but a kill from Rivera and an ace from Vulic gave Mercy a 21-17 lead. D'Youville later made it 22-19, but three straight points from Mercy gave them the 25-19 set two win after a Vizcaino Araujo ace.
The Saints built a 6-4 lead in set three before the Mavericks scored the next nine points to take a 13-6 lead. D'Youville would cut Mercy's lead to six, 14-8, but the Mavericks rallied with an 8-1 run to take a 22-9 lead. Mercy cruised the rest of the set and a Pomerleau kill gave Mercy the 25-12 set three win.
Set four was tied at 3-3 before Mercy went on a 6-2 spurt, finished off by a Vulic ace, to take a 9-5 lead. The Saints trimmed the Mavericks lead to two, 13-11, later in the set, but Mercy rattled off six straight points to increase the lead to eight, 19-11, after a Pomerleau kill. The score was later 23-15 before Vizcaino Araujo and Lankhorst recorded back-to-back kills to finish off the set and match.
Mercy hit .235 with 48 kills, 53 digs, nine blocks and 11 aces. D'Youville hit .084 with 35 kills, 38 digs, eight blocks and six aces.
Head Coach Ana Todorovic and the Mavericks resume action on Monday, October 17th when they host Caldwell at 7 p.m.
