BUFFALO, N.Y. – Powered by double-doubles from senior Adriana Rivera Rodriguez (Humacao, Puerto Rico/American International College) and juniors Grace Dilena (New York, N.Y./Liberty University Online Academy) and Stasa Stamenkovic (Bor, Serbia/Barton CC), the RV Mercy University Women's Volleyball Team earned a 3-2 (25-16, 24-26, 25-19, 22-25, 15-8) win at ECC foe D'Youville University on Sunday afternoon at Saints Center Gym.
The Mavericks (24-1, 12-0 ECC) have won 16 matches in a row and end the regular season undefeated in ECC play for the first time since 2001. Mercy sweeps the season series with the Saints (15-13, 8-4 ECC) for the first time since 2022. The Mavericks become the first team since Daemen in 2023 to go undefeated during the regular season in ECC play. Mercy has secured the No. 1 seed in next week's ECC Championship and will host both semifinals and the final at the Judge Athletic Center on Friday, November 13th and Saturday, November 14th. The Mavericks will host No. 4 seed Molloy in a semifinal on Friday, November 13th at 4 p.m.
Mercy jumped out to a 7-2 lead in set one after a Stamenkovic kill and later built a 19-9 lead after another Stamenkovic kill. D'Youville later cut the Mavericks' lead to 23-16 before a block from senior Mia Illes-Hair (Lake Worth, Fla./Palm Beach Central) and Rivera Rodriguez and a Saints attack error gave Mercy the opening set, 25-16.
The Mavericks took a 12-10 lead in set two after a junior Aleksandra Lucic (Belgrade, Serbia/Florida SouthWestern State College/AIC) block before D'Youville scored the next four points to take a 14-12 lead. Mercy battled back and later tied the set at 19-19. The Saints scored the next three points to take a 22-19 lead and later held a 23-20 advantage. Kills from Illes-Hair and Stamenkovic made it 23-22 and a sophomore Isabella Brown (New York, N.Y./Great Neck North) ace later tied the set at 24-24. A Maverick attack error and a D'Youville ace gave the Saints the 26-24 set-two win.
D'Youville took a 6-4 lead in set three before Mercy rallied with a 9-4 spurt to take a 13-10 lead after an Illes-Hair block. The Saints later cut the Mavericks' lead to one, 17-16, before Mercy scored the next five points to take a 22-16 lead. A Lucic kill later gave the Mavericks the 25-19 set-three win.
Mercy built a 15-5 lead in set four and later held a 20-14 lead after a senior Janneliz Rodriguez Fuentes (Juana Diaz, Puerto Rico/Academia Cristo Rey) block. D'Youville followed with 10-1 run to take a 24-21 lead. A Dilena kill made it 24-22 before an Ashley Ballou block gave the Saints the 25-22 set-four win.
The Mavericks took a 4-1 lead in set five after a Rodriguez Fuentes and Stamenkovic block. The Saints later cut Mercy's lead to two, 10-8, after a Cameron Ulinski kill. The Mavericks closed the set with the five points in a row, aided by two kills from Stamenkovic, giving Mercy the 15-8 set-five win.
Mercy was led by Dilena who had a match-high 19 kills to go with a team-high 16 digs. Stamenkovic added 15 kills to go with 11 digs, and Rivera Rodriguez had a match-high 40 assists to go with 11 digs. Brown had a career-high-tying 14 digs and Illes-Hair had eight kills. Lucic contributed seven kills and nine digs and Rodriguez Fuentes had four kills and five blocks (3 solo, two assists).
D'Youville was led by Ulinski who had a team-high 18 kills.
Mercy hit .188 with 53 kills, 63 digs, four aces and 10 blocks. D'Youville hit .096 with 48 kills, 57 digs, four aces and nine blocks.
Head Coach Ana Todorovic and the Mavericks resume action on Friday, November 13th when they host Molloy in the ECC Championship Semifinals at 4 p.m.
