Box Score

DOBBS FERRY, N.Y. - The Daemen College women's volleyball team suffered its third straight loss in East Coast Conference play tonight, dropping  four-set decision to Mercy College (18-25, 25-22, 23-25, 26-28) at Mercy Gymnasium.  The loss dropped the Wildcats to 8-8 overall and 2-5 in conference play.  The host Mavericks pulled even at 8-8 overall while picking up their first ECC victory of the season (1-5).

Mercy jumped out to a 10-3 lead early in the first set and never looked back.  The Mavericks led by 10 (22-12) after a Daemen attack error.  The Wildcats would win six of the next eight points to pull within six (24-18) but kill from Nicole Pepe closed out the set for the hosts.

Daemen regrouped and won a tightly-contested second set to tie the match at one set apiece.  Mercy led 20-15 but surrendered 10 of the final 12 points to Daemen in the set.  Junior middle blocker Ye Wang (Beijing, China/Hachioji Jissen) had five kills in the run to close out the set for Daemen.

The pivotal third set saw Daemen establish a five-point lead early on.  Senior Brittany Anthon (Lancaster, N.Y./Lancaster) hammered down one of her 12 kills to give Daemen a 15-10 edge.  

But, Mercy would pull even at 20-20 after back-to-back kills from Nicolette Gebhardt.  Later, a kill by Brenna White gave the Mavericks a 23-22 lead - their first lead in the set since 3-2.  

A Mercy service error temporarily tied things up, but White added another kill, and Gebhardt and Sonia Morales combined on a block at match point to deliver the third-set win, putting the Mavericks ahead by one in sets.

Daemen then led by as many as seven points (11-4) in the fourth set, but couldn't hold off the Mavericks.  A kill by Wang gave Daemen its first opportunity to close the set at 24-23, but White responded with a kill for Mercy.  

Junior outside hitter Lindsey Nowak (West Seneca, N.Y./Immaculata) put Daemen up 25-24, giving the Wildcats a second chance to force a fifth set.  Again, White bailed out the Mavericks with a clutch kill.

Daemen won the next point with a kill from freshman Amber Drzymala (West Seneca, N.Y./St. Mary's of Lancaster), giving Daemen a third chance to win the set.  But, a Gebhardt kill knotted the score and back-to-back Daemen attack errors, including a match-winning assisted block from Gebhardt and Pepe closed out the match for Mercy.

White terrorized the Wildcats with 22 kills and .386 hitting percentage.  McKenna Ronan notched a match-high 46 assists for the Mavericks as well.

Gebhardt and Morales chipped in with 18 and 10 kills, respectively.  Mallorie Hopkins paced the Mercy defense with 22 kills.

Wang paced the Wildcats with 16 kills.  Nowak and Anthon split 24 kills between them for Daemen.

Senior setter Kaley Vazquez (Kenmore, N.Y./Kenmore West) matched a season-high with 27 assists. Junior Chelsea Turcer (Alexander, N.Y./Alexander Central) added 21 assists while senior Paige Tilert (Derby, N.Y./Genesee CC) and Anthon contributed 17 and 16 digs, respectively, to the Daemen cause.

Daemen will look to snap its three-match skid in a non-conference matchup at Edinboro University next Tuesday (Oct. 15).  Daemen scored a straight-sets victory over the Fighting Scots last season.  The match gets going at 7 p.m. Tuesday night in Edinboro, Pa.