Sparkill, NY - Monroe University picked up its fourth win of the season Thursday night, sweeping St. Thomas Aquinas College 3-0 at the Spartan Athletic Complex. The Mustangs took the match 25-19, 25-21, 25-16 behind an efficient offensive performance, finishing with 43 kills and a .363 hitting percentage while holding the Spartans to just .084. The victory improves Monroe to 4-1 on the season while St. Thomas Aquinas falls to 2-4.
Monroe wasted little time getting started in the opening set, scoring the first three points behind kills from Vasquez and Rodriguez-Wells. St. Thomas Aquinas battled back and eventually tied the frame at six, but the Mustangs continued to stay a step ahead. A Liliana Barbierikova kill gave Monroe a 7-6 advantage before her service ace later pushed the lead to 10-7. The Spartans remained within striking distance and tied the set again at 14, but Monroe responded immediately. A St. Thomas Aquinas service error put the Mustangs back in front before consecutive kills from Alanis Cepeda and Fabiana Lopez stretched the advantage to 17-14 and forced a Spartan timeout. Monroe continued to pull away down the stretch as another Lopez kill made it 20-16 before the Mustangs pushed the lead to 23-17. Lopez eventually brought up set point with a kill and a St. Thomas Aquinas attack error finished the opening frame 25-19.
The second set featured another back-and-forth start. Monroe scored the first two points before St. Thomas Aquinas answered with four straight to take a 4-2 lead. The Mustangs quickly erased the deficit and, with the score tied at six, put together a four-point run behind kills from Odalis Cox, Cepeda and Barbierikova along with an Adriana Garcia ace to take a 10-6 advantage. The Spartans battled back to tie the frame at 12, but Lopez immediately put Monroe back in front with a kill and Mileyshka Melendez followed with an ace to make it 14-12. Monroe began to create separation late as a Vasquez kill and Garcia kill helped the Mustangs build an 18-15 lead before a Barbierikova-Garcia block and a St. Thomas Aquinas attack error extended it to 20-15. The Spartans made one final push, cutting the deficit to 23-20, but Cepeda stopped the run with a kill before Lopez closed out the set at 25-21 to put Monroe one set away from the sweep.
Monroe took control early in the third. Vasquez and Garcia helped the Mustangs build a 5-2 advantage before St. Thomas Aquinas worked its way back to tie the set at seven. Cepeda answered with a kill to put Monroe back in front and the Mustangs never trailed again. Barbierikova followed with an ace before another Cepeda kill stretched the lead to 10-7. Monroe continued to pull away as kills from Lopez and Garcia helped make it 17-10. A Barbierikova-Vasquez block followed by another Garcia kill pushed the advantage to 19-10 and the Mustangs kept their foot on the gas. Garcia later recorded her 10th kill of the night to make it 21-12 before Barbierikova and Lopez teamed up for another block to give Monroe a 22-13 advantage. Alondra Illdefonso Diaz brought the Mustangs within two points of the win with a kill and Lopez eventually delivered the match-clinching kill to seal the third set 25-16 and complete the sweep. Monroe saved its best offensive performance for last, recording 16 kills with only two errors on 30 attempts for a .467 hitting percentage.
Garcia led a balanced Monroe attack with 10 kills on 21 attempts, hitting .381 while adding eight digs, an ace and two block assists. Lopez and Vasquez each finished with eight kills, with Vasquez hitting .333 and Lopez .316. Cepeda was especially efficient, putting down eight kills on just 12 attempts for a .500 hitting percentage, while Barbierikova added four kills on six swings, three service aces and a match-high five total blocks.
Mileyshka Melendez directed the Mustangs with 20 assists while adding seven digs and an ace, while Cox contributed 15 assists and three digs. Monroe finished the night with 43 kills, 41 assists, six service aces, 39 digs and seven total blocks. The Mustangs improved offensively in each set, hitting .310 in the first, .312 in the second and .467 in the third while limiting the Spartans to a .084 hitting percentage for the match.
