DOBBS FERRY, N.Y. – Powered by a career-high 25 kills and eight service aces from junior Grace Dilena (New York, N.Y./Liberty University Online Academy), the Mercy University Women's Volleyball Team earned a 3-1 (25-20, 26-24, 25-27, 25-16) win over ECC foe D'Youville University on Sunday afternoon at the Judge Athletic Center.
The Mavericks (19-1, 8-0 ECC) have won 11 matches in a row and start 8-0 in ECC play for the second straight year. Mercy defeats the Saints (13-11, 6-2 ECC) for the second straight time. The Mavericks have secured their seventh straight ECC Championship berth.
D'Youville scored the first point of the match before Dilena recorded a kill and seven service aces to give Mercy a 10-1 lead. A Dilena kill later gave the Mavericks a 15-5 lead. Mercy later held a 24-18 lead after a Dilena kill before two straight D'Youville points made it 24-20. A junior Stasa Stamenkovic (Bor, Serbia/Barton CC) kill gave Mercy the opening set, 25-20.
The Mavericks built a 7-4 lead in set two after back-to-back aces from Stamenkovic. The Saints later took a 20-19 lead after a Madeline O'Brien kill before a D'Youville service error, a Dilena kill and Stamenkovic ace gave Mercy a 22-20 lead. A Dilena kill gave Mercy a 23-21 advantage before the Saints scored two straight points to tie the set at 23-23. Dilena and Cameron Ulinski traded kills to make it 24-24 before kills from Dilena and Stamenkovic gave Mercy the 26-24 set-two win.
Mercy took an 11-8 lead in set three following a Dilena kill. D'Youville went on a 7-1 run to take a 15-12 lead and later held an 18-14 lead. The Mavericks stormed back on a 7-2 run to take a 21-20 lead after a Dilena kill. D'Youville scored four of the next five points to take a 24-22 lead. A senior Mia Illes-Hair (Lake Worth, Fla./Palm Beach Central) kill and senior Adriana Rivera Rodriguez (Humacao, Puerto Rico/American International College) ace tied the set at 24-24. The teams traded points to make it 25-25 before a Ulinski kill and a Maddie Boglev and Gabrielle Dials block gave the Saints a 27-25 set-three win.
The fourth set was tied at 7-7 before Mercy went on a 9-2 run to build a 16-9 lead after a senior Janneliz Rodriguez Fuentes (Juana Diaz, Puerto Rico/Academia Cristo Rey) and Stamenkovic block. The Saints later cut the Mavericks' lead to five, 20-15, before Mercy ended the set on a 5-1 run to take the set, 25-16, and the match in four sets.
Mercy was led by Dilena who had a match-high and career-high 25 kills with a career-high eight aces. The junior also added seven digs. Rivera Rodriguez had a match-high 38 assists with six digs and two aces, and sophomore Isabella Brown (New York, N.Y./Great Neck North) had a match-high 12 digs with three aces. Stamenkovic had nine kills, five digs, and three aces and Illes-Hair had seven kills. Rodriguez Fuentes added seven kills and five blocks and junior Aleksandra Lucic (Belgrade, Serbia/Florida SouthWestern State College/AIC) had four kills and nine digs.
D'Youville was led by Ulinski who had a team-high 14 kills.
Mercy hit .266 with 54 kills, 41 digs, 16 aces and seven blocks. D'Youville hit .231 with 43 kills, 42 digs, five aces and 11 blocks.
Head Coach Ana Todorovic and the Mavericks resume action on Wednesday, October 28th when they play at Assumption at 7 p.m.
