Box Score ROCKVILLE CENTRE, N.Y. (Nov. 1, 2015) - Paced by 17 kills from both
Jeanne Reinis (Santa Fe Springs, Calif.) and
Cassie Palmer (Norwalk, Calif.) in addition to a 49-assist outing from setter
Ally De Kruyf (Norwalk, Calif.), the Molloy College volleyball team picked up its second straight victory by defeating Roberts Wesleyan in four sets on Sunday at Quealy Gymnasium. Set scores from Rockville Centre favored the Lions 25-21, 25-27, 25-19 and 31-29.
Molloy (6-19, 4-8 ECC) capitalized on early mistakes by Roberts Wesleyan (2-19, 2-10 ECC) to jump out to a 6-3 lead in the opening set, but the Redhawks were able to battle back from the deficit. After an error by sophomore outside hitter Courtney Taylor (Spring, Texas) gave Molloy a 10-6 advantage, the visiting side ran off five consecutive points on the strength of two attack errors, a block and kill by Anjali Thomson (Mission Viejo, Calif.) and a service ace from Elisabeth Rivera (Garden Grove, Calif.). The Redhawks would piece together another rally after freshman outside hitter
Carly Banks (Camas, Wash.) collected a kill to put Molloy within one at 15-14. Senior outside hitter Kate Steger (Hilton, N.Y.) launched a kill to put Roberts ahead by two and Taylor hit consecutive successful attacks to make the score favor the Redhawks 18-14. Molloy fought back to keep it somewhat close, but another Taylor kill put Roberts ahead 21-18 with the Lions staring down a first-set loss. Following a Palmer kill to cut the deficit to two, De Kruyf stepped to the service line and proceeded to serve out the set in favor of the maroon and white. A solo block by
Spencer Williams (Los Angeles, Calif.) was followed by kills from Banks and Reinis and three service aces from De Kruyf to give Molloy a 25-21 victory in the opening stanza.
In set two, Roberts Wesleyan leapt out to the early lead as a Taylor kill punctuated a 9-5 opening run by the visitors. Molloy came back on kills by Palmer and junior
Alley Stefanovski (North Chili, N.Y.) but the visitors had enough in the tank to keep the Lions at bay as a Steger block on a Banks attack gave the Redhawks a 15-11 lead. The home side kept clawing back into the set, but could not keep any momentum going until late as Palmer brought the Lions within one at 23-22 before being blocked by freshman middle blocker Kristina Button (Davison, Mich.) to give the visitors a set point. Two attack errors would follow, and then the two teams traded service errors as the scoreboard flashed 25-all. In the end, Roberts Wesleyan had just enough as Taylor and Steger hit back-to-back kills as Roberts leveled the match at one set apiece.
While the third set started off in a manner that would predict a close frame of volleyball, the Lions pounded their opponents into submission from the service line. Molloy opened with a 10-8 lead, getting a pivotal point as Palmer and Williams combined to stuff the attack of Riley Moll (Orchard Park, N.Y.) in the front row. Williams then went back to serve, and by the time the Redhawks recorded a side out, the scoreboard read 14-9 in favor of the Lions. The junior launched two service aces while Banks and Palmer both hit kills with assists credited to freshman defensive specialist
Meaghan Carr (Mineola, N.Y.) to provide the advantage for the home side. Molloy would win 11 of the next 17 points in grand style, keyed by De Kruyf's three service aces in the final four points to lift Molloy to a 25-15 win and a 2-1 lead in sets.
A dramatic and tense fourth and final set followed with both sides struggling to determine which squad would blink first. The first twenty points were split between the two teams with seven ties all the way up a 10-10 scoreline. At 10-all, Reinis thundered a service ace off of Redhawks libero Rebekah Sanchez (Haverstraw, N.Y.) to lead a three-point spurt that included blocks by Palmer, Williams and Banks and a kill by the freshman from Washington to put Molloy up 14-10. Roberts Wesleyan answered with seven of the next nine points to take a 17-16 lead, and later a Steger ace gave the visitors a 19-17 edge. A resilient Lions squad again rose up to take back the lead with three straight points delivered by a kill and ace from Palmer and a kill by Reinis. At 20-20, the two sides would trade the next 18 points with Roberts staving off four match points and Molloy stopping the visitors from winning the fourth set twice. At 29-29, a fantastic rally ensued which was ended only when De Kruyf rose up in the front row, fooled the defense into thinking that the junior would actually set the ball to a teammate, and swiped the ball straight down with her left hand to the thunderous roar of the Lions' faithful fan base. At 30-29 and match point, De Kruyf calmly slid under a teammate's dig and deftly set the ball straight up for Williams in the middle, and the junior rocketed an attack to the floor to give Molloy a 31-29 set win and a three-sets-to-one climax.
Along with the aforementioned leaders in the beginning, Banks had another quality performance with 13 kills and a team-best .346 hitting percentage. The Lions did a world of damage from the service stripe, launching 14 service aces including six by De Kruyf, a new career-high for the junior setter who also had 10 digs. Stefanovski had 12 digs while sophomore libero
Dakota O'Neill (Long Beach, N.Y.) put forth her third-straight 20-plus dig performance with 22. Junior middle hitter
Grace Cookson (San Diego, Calif.) had a consistently solid performance with seven kills, two assists, two solo blocks and four digs and Carr had five digs and three assists in her defensive outing.
Taylor led Roberts Wesleyan with 17 kills while Steger had 12 kills and 14 digs. Rivera dished out 38 assists and Sanchez collected 14 digs in the back row for the Redhawks.
Molloy will conclude its four-match homestand and close out the home portion of the 2015 season on Tuesday (Nov. 3) as the Lions host Dowling at 6 p.m. It will also be Senior Night, marking the last home game for both Palmer and fellow senior
Danielle Williams (Alba, Texas).
