PLEASANTVILLE, N.Y. (Sept. 17, 2022) – Powered by four different Mavericks recording double-digit kills, the Mercy College volleyball team earned a 3-0 (25-21, 25-19, 25-19) win over Pace University before earning a 3-0 (25-15, 25-10, 25-15) victory over Goldey-Beacom College on Saturday afternoon at the Goldstein Center.
The Mavericks (6-1) bounce back after their first loss of the season and are off to their best start since 2001. Pace (2-8) defeated Goldey-Beacom (0-13) in four sets in the other match of the day.
Match 1: Mercy 3, Pace 0
The opening set was tied at 8-8 before Mercy went on a 9-3 run, capped off by a Julia Pomerleau (Portland, Maine/University of Southern Maine) kill, to take a 17-11 lead. The Setters later cut the deficit to three, 20-17, but the Mavericks stormed back with four straight points to take a 24-17 lead. Pace scored the next four points to make it 24-21, but an Anyelainy Vizcaino Araujo (Santo Domingo Oeste, D.R./Southwestern CC) kill gave Mercy the 25-21 set one win.
Mercy took a 10-4 lead in set two after another Pomerleau kill. The Mavericks later increased the lead to 18-10 after a Nilka Rivera Maldonado (Bayamon, P.R./Concordia College) ace. The Setters battled back and tied the set at 19-19, leading to a Mercy timeout. Out of the timeout, the Mavericks closed the set with six straight points, finished off by a Vizcaino Araujo kill, to take the second set 25-19.
The Mavericks built a 13-6 lead in set three after a Selma Vulic (New Rochelle, N.Y./New Rochelle) ace. Pace later cut Mercy's lead to three, 19-16, but Mercy ended the set on a 6-3 spurt, finished off by a Stéphanie Lankhorst (Apeldoorn, Netherlands/Koninklijke Scholengemeenschap Apeldoorn) block to win the set and match.
Pomerleau had a match-high 11 kills and Vizcaino Araujo had 10 kills. Vulic had a match-high 13 digs and Rivera Maldonado had seven kills and 12 digs. Senior Yarianne Gonzalez (Manati, P.R./Monroe College) had 26 assists and seven digs. Senior Larissa Schneid (Sao Paulo, Brazil/Iowa Western CC) had seven kills and Lankhorst had seven blocks and three aces.
Pace was led by Madisen Lupica who had a team-high seven kills.
Mercy hit .220 with 39 kills, 34 digs, eight blocks and nine aces. Pace hit .043 with 27 kills, 36 digs, five blocks and four aces.
Match 2: Mercy 3, Goldey-Beacom 0
Mercy took a 7-0 lead in set one after a Rivera Maldonado kill. The Lightning scored the next five points to make it 7-5. However, the Mavericks answered with a 14-6 run, capped off by a Schneid kill, to take a 21-11 lead. Mercy led the rest of the set and Lankhorst finished it off with a kill to give Mercy a 1-0 lead.
The Mavericks built a 7-1 lead in set two after three straight kills from Schneid. Goldey-Beacom scored the next point to make it 7-2, but Mercy closed the set on an 18-8 run to take the set, 25-10.
Mercy jumped out to a 7-2 lead in set three after a Lankhorst ace. The Lightning later cut the Mercy lead to three, 10-7. However, the Mavericks came back on a 13-7 run to take a 23-14 lead. Goldey-Beacom made it 23-15 before a service error and Schneid kill gave Mercy the set and match.
Schneid had a match-high 14 kills with nine digs and Vizcaino Araujo had 11 kills. Lankhorst had 10 kills and Rivera Maldonado had a match-high 12 digs with five kills. Gonzalez had a match-high 38 assists and Vulic had nine digs.
Goldey-Beacom was led by Shayla Boyce who had a team-high nine kills.
Mercy hit .353 with 45 kills, 35 digs, four blocks and nine aces. Goldey-Beacom hit .000 with 17 kills, 20 digs, seven blocks and one ace.
Head Coach Ana Todorovic and the Mavericks resume action on Saturday, September 24th when they host Roberts Wesleyan at 12 p.m.
