DOBBS FERRY, N.Y. – Powered by a match-high 19 kills from junior Stasa Stamenkovic (Bor, Serbia/Barton CC), the No. 1 seeded Mercy University Women's Volleyball Team earned a 3-0 (25-13, 25-17, 25-19) win over No. 4 seeded Molloy University in an ECC Women's Volleyball Championship Semifinal matchup on Friday afternoon at the Judge Athletic Center.
The Mavericks (25-1) have won 17 matches in a row and defeat the Lions (11-16) for the seventh straight time. Mercy advances to the ECC Championship Final for the third straight year and will host No. 2 seed D'Youville in the Final tomorrow at 5 p.m., looking to win their second straight ECC Tournament Championship and the fifth in program history.
Molloy took a 2-0 lead in set one before Mercy went on a 9-1 run to take a 9-3 lead after a junior Aleksandra Lucic (Belgrade, Serbia/Florida SouthWestern State College/AIC) kill. The Lions later cut the Mavericks' lead to three, 14-11, before Mercy ended the set on an 11-2 run, capped off by three straight kills from Stamenkovic, giving the Mavericks a 25-13 set-one win.
Mercy scored the first four points of the second set to take a 4-0 lead after a senior Adriana Rivera Rodriguez (Humacao, Puerto Rico/American International College) kill. Molloy rallied with an 11-5 run to take an 11-9 lead and later held a 12-11 lead. The Mavericks ensued with an 11-4 run to take a 22-16 lead after a junior Grace Dilena (New York, N.Y./Liberty University Online Academy) kill and a senior Mia Illes-Hair (Lake Worth, Fla./Palm Beach Central) and Dilena block later gave Mercy the 25-17 set-two win.
The third set was tied at 2-2 before Mercy scored five points in a row to take a 7-2 lead after a Stamenkovic kill. The Lions came back on a 12-7 run to tie the set at 14-14. The set was later tied again at 15-15 before the Mavericks went on an 8-1 run to take a 23-16 lead. Molloy later cut Mercy's lead to 24-19 before a Dilena kill gave the Mavericks the 25-19 set-three win and the sweep.
Mercy was led by Stamenkovic who had a match-high 19 kills on .600 hitting with seven digs. Rivera Rodriguez had a match-high 30 assists with eight digs and Dilena had eight kills, five aces and six digs. Sophomore Isabella Brown (New York, N.Y./Great Neck North) had a match-high 11 digs and Illes-Hair added five kills and a match-high four blocks. Lucic had four kills and senior Janneliz Rodriguez Fuentes (Juana Diaz, Puerto Rico/Academia Cristo Rey) had three kills. Junior Devin Brunk (Clarkston, Mich./Frostburg State University) added one ace.
Molloy was led by Erin Stanley who had a team-high eight kills.
Mercy hit .386 with 36 digs, 11 aces, and five blocks. Molloy hit .117 with 26 digs, five aces and three blocks.
Head Coach Ana Todorovic and the Mavericks resume action tomorrow when they host D'Youville in the ECC Championship Final at 5 p.m.
