CALDWELL, N.J. – Powered by a match-high 12 kills from junior Grace Dilena (New York, N.Y./Liberty University Online Academy), a double-double from junior Aleksandra Lucic (Belgrade, Serbia/Florida SouthWestern State College/AIC) and a career-high 14 digs from sophomore Isabella Brown (New York, N.Y./Great Neck North), the Mercy University Women's Volleyball Team earned a 3-0 (25-23, 25-14, 25-16) win at Caldwell University on Wednesday night at the Newman Center.
The Mavericks (13-1) have won five matches in a row and continue their best start since 2001. Mercy defeats the Cougars (3-14) for the seventh straight time.
Mercy held a 10-8 lead in set one after a Lucic kill and later held an 11-10 advantage after a junior Stasa Stamenkovic (Bor, Serbia/Barton CC) kill. Caldwell rallied with a 9-4 run to take a 19-15 lead. The Mavericks followed with a 4-1 spurt to cut the Cougars lead to one, 20-19. Caldwell scored the next three points to take a 23-19 lead. Mercy ended the set on a 6-0 run, finished off by a senior Janneliz Rodriguez Fuentes (Juana Diaz, Puerto Rico/Academia Cristo Rey) and sophomore Ella Buonauro (Simi Valley, Calif./Royal) block, to take the opening set, 25-23.
The second set was tied at 3-3 before Mercy scored seven points in a row to take a 10-3 lead after a Stamenkovic kill. Caldwell went on a 6-2 run to make it 12-9 before the Mavericks ensued with an 8-3 run to take a 20-12 lead. After a Cougars timeout, the hosts scored the next two points to make it 20-14. Mercy scored the final five points of the set, finished off by a Dilena kill, to earn a 25-14 set-two win.
The final set was tied at 1-1 before the Mavericks rattled off six straight points to take a 7-1 lead after a Brown ace. Caldwell came back on a 12-7 run to cut Mercy's lead to one, 14-13. The Mavericks recorded the next five points to take a 19-13 lead after a Dilena kill and a Dilena kill later secured the 25-16 set-three win and the sweep.
Mercy was led by Dilena who had a match-high 12 kills to go with eight digs. Lucic posted a double-double with 10 kills to go with a match-high-tying 14 digs and three aces. Brown had a career-high and match-high-tying 14 digs to go with two aces and Stamenkovic contributed 10 kills, nine digs and three aces. Buonauro had a match-high 32 assists to go with two kills and senior Mia Illes-Hair (Lake Worth, Fla./Palm Beach Central) had five kills. Rodriguez Fuentes added two kills and three blocks.
Caldwell was led by Marley Rudolph who had a team-high 11 kills.
Mercy hit .245 with 41 kills, 51 digs, nine aces and four blocks. Caldwell hit .071 with 25 kills, 35 digs, zero aces and four blocks.
Head Coach Ana Todorovic and the Mavericks resume action on Saturday, October 10th when they play at Molloy at 12 p.m.
