ORANGE PARK, Fla., October 21, 2022 – A challenging trip to Idaho back in early September halted a nine-match winning streak for the Monroe College Mustangs women's volleyball team. Since that trip, the Mustangs have now won 14 straight matches, including three-set victories over Spartanburg Methodist College and Andrew College on Friday as part of the St. Johns River Viking Invitational, hosted by St. Johns River State College. The Mustangs are now 28-6 overall with the two victories in-hand.
MATCH 1: Monroe 3, Spartanburg Methodist 0 (25-22, 25-21, 25-15)
The Mustangs were in comeback mode right off the bat in the opening set against the Pioneers, falling behind, 9-2, before working their way back. After cutting the deficit to 11-5, the Mustangs scored seven straight points to jump into the lead. The Mustangs later held a 22-17 advantage, but the Pioneers strung together a comeback of their own with five straight points to tie things up. The Mustangs regrouped and got it done with the final three points to pick up a 25-22 win.
The second set was tight throughout. The Mustangs took their largest lead at 12-9, but the Pioneers later managed to jump ahead at 19-17. The Mustangs got back on top with three straight points, but Spartanburg Methodist took the next to go to right back in the lead. The Mustangs used a timeout to get things back on track, and did just that, winning the next five points to grab a 25-21 victory and go up, 2-0.
The third frame was yet another competitive matchup, seeing the Pioneers take a 7-4 lead early on. The Mustangs turned it around to take the lead at 12-11, later going up, 16-13, to force Spartanburg Methodist to take a timeout. The Pioneers took 2-of-3 after the timeout, but the Mustangs caught fire after that, taking the final eight points of the match to win, 25-15, and secure a three-set sweep.
Yaliancis Flores had a big match, registering yet another double-double with 13 kills and 17 digs to lead the team in both categories.
Leanisse Solano almost got one as well with 11 kills and nine digs.
Francesca Andreon was a big contributor with 35 assists, four aces, five digs and three blocks in the win.
Laura Paniagua had nine digs and two aces, while
Alessia Gallo served up three aces.
Vanja Stefanovic totaled five kills and four blocks, while
Rebecca Jackson also had four blocks and four kills.
MATCH 2: Monroe 3, Andrew 0 (25-11, 25-13, 25-10)
The Mustangs got out to a big lead early in the opening set, foreshadowing what was to come, as the Mustangs found their rhythm for the rest of the afternoon. Monroe's 10-3 edge was cut to 11-7, but a big run gave Monroe a big advantage at 22-9. The Mustangs gave up just a couple more points en route to a 25-11 win in the opening game against Andrew.
The Fighting Tigers were able to stay within striking distance when the Mustangs held a 17-11 lead during the second set, but it did not take much longer for the Mustangs to make their push to finish the game. It was a seven-point set at 19-12 before the Mustangs closed it out with a 6-1 run for a 25-13 win and a 2-0 lead in the match.
The Mustangs galloped out to a 9-2 lead in the third frame and never looked back. A pair of four-point runs had Monroe up, 19-6. The Fighting Tigers earned their final two points of the match to make it a 22-10 lead for Monroe, but the Mustangs cleaned it up with the final three points for a 25-10 victory to cap off the sweep.
Solano had another 11 kills in Monroe's second win of the day. Flores,
Kiara Figueroa, and
Manon Braunsteffer each threw down six kills in the win, with Braunsteffer doing so on six attacks for a perfect 1.000 hitting percentage in the match. Andreon handed out another 26 assists, while Paniagua led the team with 11 digs. Paniagua, Figueroa and
Doriangelis Serrano Reynoso each had a pair of aces in the match.
Day 2 of the St. Johns River Viking Invitational will see the Mustangs take on Lurleen B. Wallace Community College at 3 p.m., followed immediately after by a match with host St. Johns River State College at 5 p.m.
ABOUT THE ATHLETIC PROGRAM AT MONROE COLLEGE
The athletic program at Monroe College encompasses a total of 35 teams competing across nine sports. There are 21 varsity and junior varsity programs, as well the Monroe College marching band and the newly added esports and men's volleyball programs, competing on the New Rochelle campus as the Mustangs (NJCAA Division I). The Monroe Express, based out of the Bronx campus, has 11 teams competing at the NJCAA Division III level.
For more information about the Monroe Mustangs, please visit us at
www.MonroeCollegeMustangs.com or follow us on social media: Facebook (
Monroe Mustangs Athletics), Twitter (
@Monroe_Mustangs) and Instagram (
@monroemustangs).
