New Rochelle, NY - The Monroe University Mustangs came within one set of handing Mercy University its first loss of the season Thursday night, but the Mavericks rallied from a two-set deficit to defeat the Mustangs 3-2 at the MAC. Monroe captured the first two sets 25-16 and 27-25 before Mercy responded to take the final three 25-19, 25-11 and 15-12. The loss moves Monroe to 1-1 on the season while Mercy improves to 4-0.
The opening set was tight early with the two sides trading points to a 7-7 tie before the Mustangs took control. Emma Dedushaj helped spark a dominant Monroe run as the Mustangs scored nine unanswered points to race out to a 16-7 advantage. The run featured a pair of blocks from Liliana Barbierikova and Matias Cepeda before Dedushaj capped it with a service ace. Mercy briefly stopped the run with a kill, but Monroe kept its foot on the gas, stretching the advantage to 23-14 before closing out the opening frame 25-16 to take a 1-0 lead in the match.
Monroe wasted no time jumping ahead in the second, turning a 1-1 tie into an 8-1 advantage behind kills from Adriana Garcia, Mileyshka Melendez and Barbierikova along with an ace from Odalis Cox. Mercy chipped away at the deficit and eventually pulled even at 12 before taking a 15-13 lead. The Mustangs responded with five consecutive points, including back-to-back aces from Cox, to move back in front 18-15. Monroe later reached set point at 24-21 on a kill from Illdefonso Diaz, but Mercy fought off three straight opportunities to tie the frame at 24. Thais Cocly Vasquez put the Mustangs back in front before another Mercy kill made it 25-25. Vasquez then delivered another kill to give Monroe its fifth set point and Fabiana Lopez finished the job with a kill to secure the 27-25 victory and give the Mustangs a commanding 2-0 lead.
Looking to finish off the match in three, Monroe battled Mercy through eight ties early in the third. The Mustangs erased a 12-8 deficit with a 5-1 run as consecutive kills from Vasquez evened the score at 13. Mercy answered with three straight points and eventually stretched its advantage to 19-14. Garcia and Matias Cepeda helped the Mustangs make a late push, with back-to-back kills from Cepeda cutting the Mercy lead to 22-19, but the Mavericks scored the final three points to take the set 25-19 and trim Monroe's match advantage to 2-1.
The momentum swung heavily in Mercy's favor in the fourth. After Barbierikova opened the set with a kill for Monroe, the Mavericks answered and quickly built an 8-2 advantage. Vasquez stopped the run with a kill, but Mercy continued to pull away, stretching its lead to 15-5 midway through the frame. The Mavericks' offense proved difficult to slow as they finished the set with 20 kills on 25 attempts and just one error, hitting .760 in the period. Mercy took the fourth 25-11 to even the match at two sets apiece and force a deciding fifth.
The Mustangs regrouped and came out firing in the fifth as a kill from Vasquez, an Alisha Pereira Rodriguez-Wells ace and a Mercy attack error quickly gave Monroe a 3-0 advantage. Monroe maintained its lead through the side switch, going ahead 8-5 before the Mavericks scored three straight to tie the frame. Barbierikova put Monroe back in front 9-8 and another kill from Vasquez followed by an ace from Rodriguez-Wells gave the Mustangs an 11-9 edge with four points separating them from the win. Mercy answered with four consecutive points to take its first lead of the set at 12-11 and move ahead 13-11. The Mustangs got one back on a Mercy service error, but the Mavericks closed the match with consecutive kills to take the fifth 15-12 and complete the comeback.
Vasquez led the Mustangs offensively with 13 kills on 22 attempts while committing just two errors for a .500 hitting percentage. Garcia added seven kills while Matias Cepeda finished with five and Rodriguez-Wells and Barbierikova each chipped in four. Monroe received contributions throughout the lineup as Melendez finished with 12 assists while Rodriguez-Wells and Dedushaj each added seven. Rodriguez-Wells also recorded three service aces and seven digs while Cox led the Mustangs from the service line with four aces. Barbierikova anchored Monroe at the net with three solo blocks and one block assist.
Monroe finished the night with 47 kills, 44 digs, 12 service aces and seven total blocks while hitting .185 as a team. The Mustangs fall to 1-1Â on the season while Mercy remains unbeaten at 4-0.
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