Jersey City, N.J. – The Mount Saint Mary College Women's Volleyball team stopped a three match slide on Thursday with a 25-19, 25-15, 25-20 road non-conference win at New Jersey City University. Sophomore
Madelyn Barberan (Fishkill, N.Y.) led four players with at least five kills with a team-high seven.
After falling behind 10-2 in the opening stanza, the Mount used a 10-1 scoring run to surge in front 12-11 on a
Nicole Spinelli (Wantagh, N.Y.) kill. The two teams went on to trade the lead until a 6-1 run from the Knights that pushed them in front 21-16. A pair of Renne Hydo (Bethpage, N.Y.) kills highlighted a quick 3-1 run to end the set and five the Mount a 1-0 lead.
After gaining an 8-7 lead early in the second frame, the Mount ran off nine straight points, including two kills from
Megan Williams (Glenmont, N.Y.) and a pair of aces from
Kim Gries (Hicksville, N.Y.), to move in front 17-7. NJCU used a 3-0 spurt to get to within 23-15, but another Hydo Kill and an NJCU miscue gave the Mount a commanding two set lead.
The Mount opened up a tightly contested third set with a 6-0 spurt that pushed it in front 22-16. Williams put the match away with a kill to close out the set and the win for the Knights.
Barberan finished the night with a team-high seven kills with Hydo finishing with six winners, two aces and three digs. Williams and Spinelli each posted five kills, with Williams adding three blocks. Spinelli hit a blistering .833 and added three total blocks.
Gries handed out 30 assists for the Knights and added two service aces, with
Julimar Figueroa (Dorado, Puerto Rico) leading the team with five digs. Sophomore
Morgan Burke (Ringwood, N.Y.) totaled four blocks and added three kills.
NJCU was led by nine kills from Ayleen Pittar with Rachel McIntyre handing out 14 assists. Amber O'Donnell rounded out the night with eight digs and a pair of blocks.
Mount Saint Mary finished the match with a 36-20 advantage in kills and hit .253 as a team against a -.041 effort from NJCU. The Knights also posted the edge in aces 6-3 and blocks 7-2.
At 4-14 overall on the season, Mount Saint Mary returns to action on Saturday with a pair of non-conference matches at Misericordia. The Knights will tussle with the host Cougars at 12:00 p.m. before taking on John Jay at 2:00 p.m.
