Box Score ROCKVILLE CENTRE, N.Y. (Oct. 8, 2015) - Thanks to a 12-kill performance from freshman outside hitter
Carly Banks (Camas, Wash.), the Molloy College volleyball team claimed a three-set victory over Mercy College on Thursday evening at Quealy Gymnasium. Set scores from Rockville Centre favored the Lions 25-23, 25-19 and 25-19.
The two teams played a competitive first set with both sides striking for kills in the early going. Mercy jumped out to leads of 4-1, 8-4 and 11-8 thanks to successful attacks from freshman outside hitter Peyton Olson (Albany, Ore.). It would be Molloy fighting back from behind to take a 13-12 lead on a five-point run off of the serve of sophomore outside hitter
Samira Escobar (Fountain Valley, Calif.), who launched a service ace and collected a kill with a Banks kill sandwiched in between the points. Senior outside hitter
Cassie Palmer (Norwalk, Calif.) converted an attack attempt to nudge Molloy ahead by a 16-15 margin, but the Mavericks scored four straight points to take a 19-16 lead thanks to kills by Abigail Foti (Bedford, N.H.) and Sa'Naya Johnson (Elizabeth, N.J.). The visitors eventually earned a 22-19 lead as Olson connected on a kill, but Molloy came back with a four-point run of its own. The tide-turning point came at 22-all as Banks and junior middle blocker
Spencer Williams (Los Angeles, Calif.) combined on a perfectly executed block of an Olson attack to stuff the freshman and give the Lions a one-point edge. Though the Mavs would tie the match, Palmer and freshman outside hitter
Jeanne Reinis (Santa Fe Springs, Calif.) launched consecutive kills to secure a 25-23 opening-set victory for the home side.
Molloy rolled to a 6-2 edge in the second set as junior middle hitter
Grace Cookson (Alpine, Calif.) took center stage through the first eight points---and later the whole set---with a kill and a service ace. The Mavericks fought back to get within one at 11-10 on a Johnson kill before the maroon and white went on a 4-0 spurt. Two Mercy errors and two Cookson service aces led Molloy to a 15-10 lead, and later in the set it would be Williams collecting a service ace to give Molloy a 20-14 lead. The visitors followed with three straight points thanks to kills by Eva Marie Lynch (New Windsor, N.Y.) and Danielle Sarasky (Floral Park, N.Y.) and a service ace for Brianna Heffernan (East Islip, N.Y.). Cookson would again connect on a kill before Banks won three of Molloy's final four points on kills to earn a 25-19 win in the second stanza.
The third set was all about mini-spurts on both sides as Molloy raced out to a 3-0 lead on a service ace by junior setter
Alley Stefanovski (North Chili, N.Y.) and kills by Palmer and Banks. Mercy responded with a three-point run of its own on the strength of a service error, an Olson kill and a block by Johnson and Lynch. After trading the next two points to get the set to a 4-all score, the maroon and white went on an incredibly impressive 13-1 run to open up an overwhelming edge on their opponents. At one point, the Lions took ten straight points on three kills by Banks, two successful attacks from Palmer, two Cookson service aces and three Mavericks attack errors. The home fans at Quealy Gymnasium would have to sweat out the result, however, as the Lions saw a 21-11 lead become a 21-18 edge after a kill by Johnson was followed up by six straight attack errors by Molloy. Fittingly, Cookson and Banks would play major roles in winning the final four points as the junior stopped Mercy's rally with a kill to give Molloy back a four-point lead. After Stefanovski and Banks both launched kills to get to match point, Cookson collected her sixth service ace of the match to end the contest and lead the maroon and white to victory.
Banks collected her match-high 12 kills on an outstanding .385 hitting percentage, while Palmer added 11 kills and eight digs. Cookson had six kills to add to her six service aces while Stefanovski dished out a team-high and match-best 28 assists. Escobar, who celebrated her birthday Thursday night, connected for six kills and a team-high 22 digs and sophomore libero
Dakota O'Neill (Long Beach, N.Y.) played impressive defense in totaling 21 digs. Junior setter
Ally De Kruyf (Norwalk, Calif.) had 11 assists, pushing her career total to 983 assists as she closes in on becoming the sixth member of the 1,000-assist club in Molloy history. For Mercy, Olson collected nine kills and Johnson chipped in eight kills of her own. Freshman setter Brooke Runge (Demarest, N.J.) and Heffernan led all players with 23 digs in the losing effort.
The Molloy College volleyball team will continue its three-match homestand by facing Queens (N.Y.) College on Tuesday (Oct. 13) at 6 p.m. at Quealy Gymnasium. Be sure to check out www.MolloyLions.com for all the latest news, stats, records and information pertaining to your Molloy College volleyball team.
