Lakewood, NJ - Monroe bounced back with a dominant straight-set victory Saturday afternoon, sweeping Georgian Court 25-17, 25-14, 25-14. The win improved Monroe to 5-3 on the season, while Georgian Court fell to 3-9.
The opening set was competitive early, with Georgian Court building a 9-8 advantage before Monroe began to take control. A kill from Alisha Pereira Rodriguez-Wells tied the set at 9-9 before Monroe used a 7-1 run to move ahead 15-9. Georgian Court later cut the deficit to 23-17, but Alanis Charlotte Matias Cepeda delivered back-to-back kills to close out the opening set 25-17.
Georgian Court opened the second set with the first three points, but Monroe quickly erased the deficit and moved ahead 6-4. The teams continued trading points through a 13-13 score before Pereira Rodriguez-Wells took over from the service line. Monroe scored nine consecutive points during her serving run, with Pereira Rodriguez-Wells recording four aces as the visitors surged ahead 22-13. Monroe closed the frame with three of the final four points to take the set 25-14 and build a 2-0 match advantage.
Monroe maintained control in the third. After Georgian Court scored the opening point, Monroe moved ahead 6-3 and steadily expanded the advantage. A Mileyshka Melendez service ace pushed the lead to 12-7 before Monroe eventually stretched the margin to 20-10. Fabiana Lopez gave Monroe set point with a kill, and Milani Isatu Washington followed with the match-clinching kill to complete another 25-14 set and the sweep.
Adriana Garcia powered the Monroe offense with a match-high 12 kills on 21 attempts, committing only three errors to hit .429. Pereira Rodriguez-Wells delivered one of her strongest all-around performances of the season, finishing with seven kills without an attack error on 14 swings for a .500 hitting percentage while adding five service aces and four digs. Both players finished with 12 points.
Melendez directed the offense with a team-high 19 assists while adding eight digs and two aces. Odalis Cox contributed 11 assists and four digs, while Emma Dedushaj anchored the back row with a match-high 10 digs and added an ace. Sofia Vazquez chipped in eight digs.
Monroe also controlled play at the net. Liliana Barbierikova recorded one solo block and five block assists, while Thais Chantal Cocly Vasquez added three block assists. Matias Cepeda finished with six kills on 11 attacks for a .364 hitting percentage, and Washington added four kills while hitting .333.
As a team, Monroe recorded 40 kills against only 12 errors on 86 attempts to hit .326 for the match. The visitors were especially efficient over the final two sets, hitting .450 in the second and .375 in the third. Monroe also finished with 37 assists, eight service aces, 39 digs and six total blocks. Georgian Court was held to 24 kills and a .034 hitting percentage, including a -.074 mark in the final set.
