CALDWELL, N.J. (Sept. 1, 2022) – Powered by a double-double from senior Larissa Schneid (Sao Paulo, Brazil/Iowa Western CC), the Mercy College volleyball team earned a 3-0 (25-19, 25-14, 25-20) victory over Caldwell University on Thursday night at the Newman Center.
The Mavericks (3-0) start 3-0 for the first time since 2001 and defeat the Cougars (1-3) for the second straight time.
Schneid had a match-high-tying 10 kills with 14 digs and two aces and senior Stéphanie Lankhorst (Apeldoorn, Netherlands/Koninklijke Scholengemeenschap Apeldoorn) also had a match-high 10 kills. Senior Yarianne Gonzalez (Manati, P.R./Monroe College) had a match-high 36 assists with seven digs and four kills and is now one assist shy of 1,000 for her Mercy career. Senior Selma Vulic (New Rochelle, N.Y./New Rochelle) had a match-high 17 digs and junior Anyelainy Vizcaino Araujo (Santo Domingo Oeste, D.R./Southwestern CC) had nine kills, four aces and seven digs. Senior Julia Pomerleau (Portland, Maine/University of Southern Maine) had nine kills and two blocks and senior Tanializ Rivera (Carolina, P.R./Concordia College) had five kills.
Caldwell was led by Reese Sherwood who had a team-high nine kills.
The opening set saw the score tied at 4-4 before the Mavericks rattled off five straight points, capped off by a Schneid kill, to take a 9-4 lead. The Cougars later cut the deficit to one, 15-14, but Mercy scored the next four points, finished off by back-to-back aces from Schneid, to take a 19-14 lead. The Mavericks increased the lead to 24-16 before Caldwell recorded three straight points to make it 24-19. Rivera finished off the set with a kill to give Mercy a 1-0 lead.
Mercy scored the first six points of the second set to take a 6-0 lead. The Mavericks later held a 12-5 lead following a Lankhorst kill. Caldwell made it 13-10 later in the set, but three straight Mercy points made it 16-10 after a Schneid kill. A Gabriella Maffei kill for Caldwell made it 21-14, but the Mavericks closed the set with four straight points, capped off by a Pomerleau kill, to take the second set 25-14.
Caldwell led 10-8 in the third set, forcing a Mercy timeout. Out of the timeout, the Mavericks went on a 7-2 run, finished off by two straight Lankhorst aces, to give Mercy a 15-12 lead. The Cougars scored the next two points to make it 15-14. However, the Mavericks rallied with six consecutive points to take a 21-14 lead after back-to-back Schneid kills. Caldwell later trimmed the Mercy lead to 23-20, leading to a Maverick timeout. Following the timeout, Gonzalez and Vizcaino Araujo recorded kills to give Mercy a 25-20 set three win and their third straight win to open the season.
Mercy hit .350 with 47 kills, 48 digs, 13 aces and two blocks. Caldwell hit .187 with 26 kills, 35 digs, four aces and four blocks.
Head Coach Ana Todorovic and the Mavericks resume action on Saturday, September 3rd when they play at Goldey-Beacom at 12 p.m.
