Rockville Centre, N.Y. - The volleyball team improved to 5-0 in East Coast Conference play this evening with a 3-1 victory over St. Thomas Aquinas College. Molloy sits at 12-5 on the season with the win while the visiting Spartans fall to 4-13 (1-4 ECC).

Molloy 25, STAC 16
STAC 25, Molloy 23
Molloy 25, STAC 12
Molloy 25, STAC 17

How it Happened

• Molloy took an early 8-2 lead in the opening set that saw two aces from graduate student Julia Zalta and kills from senior Teresa Moulder and freshman Haven Trechter.
• The Spartans would be unable to overcome the early deficit and the Lions closed the set with three consecutive points: a kill from Zalta, a block from both Moulder and junior Erin Stanley, and a kill from Moulder.
• Both teams exchanged small runs in the second set, including a 5-1 run from the home team that saw two kills from Stanley and one from Moulder to make it 16-10 in favor of Molloy.
• STAC responded by taking eight of the next 10 points to knot the score at 18. 
• Three more ties set the score at 22 all before the visitors took three of the final four points to tie the contest at one set each.
• The Molloy offense righted the ship in the third set and led 10-2 early. Trechter tallied two kills while Stanley had two blocks along with one from both Moulder and senior Ilaria Micol Chiericati. Sophomore Isabella Rios also tallied an ace in the run.
• STAC would come within four, 13-9, but the remainder of the set belonged to the Lions who cruised to a 25-12 victory. 
• Zalta started the fourth set with back-to-back aces before blocks from Moulder and Stanley paired with another kill from Moulder gave Molloy a 4-0 advantage.
• The visitors would come within one, but a three-point rally regained a cushion for the Lions.
• From there, STAC would come within two on four occasions, but a block from Moulder and back-to-back kills from Stanley gave Molloy a 19-13 lead that it would maintain through the end of the set for the match victory.

Top Performances

• Stanley paced the Lions with 10 kills and a career-high six blocks. 
• Moulder followed with nine kills and tied a career-high five blocks. 
• Zalta and Trechter both added eight kills. Zalta led with six service aces while added a double-double on 17 assists and 17 digs. Trechter had eight digs. 
• Chiericati and Rios both had seven kills. Chiericati added four blocks while Rios added 12 digs.
• Junior Hayden Riddle topped the team with 18 assists to go with seven digs. 
• Senior Aria Miller led with 19 digs to go with six assists.

Up Next
The Lions will have a quick turnaround as they head to local Garden City tomorrow (Oct. 16) for a 7:00 p.m. match up with Adelphi.