PLEASANTVILLE, N.Y. – Powered by a match-high 22 digs from sophomore Kamila Colon (Caguas, Puerto Rico/Colegio Catolico Notre Dame) and a match-high 10 kills from juniors Grace Dilena (New York, N.Y./Liberty University Online Academy) and Stasa Stamenkovic (Bor, Serbia/Barton CC), the Mercy University Women's Volleyball Team earned a 3-0 (25-13, 25-18, 25-10) win at Pace University on Tuesday night at the Goldstein Fitness Center.
The Mavericks (3-0) start 3-0 for the first time since 2023 and defeat the Setters (2-1) for the sixth straight time.
Mercy held an 8-6 lead in the opening set before scoring the next eight points to take a 16-6 lead after a Dilena kill. A senior Mia Illes-Hair (Lake Worth, Fla./Palm Beach Central) kill later gave the Mavericks a 19-7 lead before Pace scored five points in a row to make it 19-12. Mercy ended the set, scoring six of the final seven points to earn a 25-13 set-one win.
Pace took a 7-2 lead in set two before Mercy went on a 7-0 run, finished off by a senior Adriana Rivera Rodriguez (Humacao, Puerto Rico/American International College) kill, to take a 9-7 lead. The Setters later cut the Mavericks' lead to one, 12-11, before Mercy responded with an 8-2 run to take a 20-13 lead after a junior Aleksandra Lucic (Belgrade, Serbia/Florida SouthWestern State College/AIC) block. Pace later made it 24-18 before Dilena closed out the set with a kill, giving Mercy the 25-18 set-two win.
The Mavericks scored the first four points of the third set and built an 8-1 lead after a Lucic kill. Mercy increased the lead to 18-4 after back-to-back kills from Stamenkovic and Rivera Rodriguez. Illes-Hair closed out the set and match with a kill, giving the Mavericks the 25-10 set-three win and the sweep.
Mercy was led by Colon who had a season-high 22 digs. Dilena added 10 kills and five digs and Stamenkovic recorded a season-high 10 kills with six digs. Rivera Rodriguez added a match-high 25 assists and recorded her 2,000th career assist as a Maverick. She becomes the seventh Maverick in program history to reach the mark. Lucic produced seven kills, three aces and six digs and Illes-Hair and senior Janneliz Rodriguez Fuentes (Juana Diaz, Puerto Rico/Academia Cristo Rey) combined for nine kills.
Pace was led by Kendall Quinones who had a team-high five kills.
Mercy hit .282 with 39 kills, 46 digs, nine aces and five blocks. Pace hit -.009 with 21 kills, 37 digs, five aces and three blocks.
Head Coach Ana Todorovic and the Mavericks resume action on Thursday, September 3rd when they play at Monroe at 7 p.m.
