Kings Point, N.Y. – After being swept at Vassar on Wednesday night, the College of Mount Saint Vincent Women's Volleyball team rebounded for a come-from-behind 27-25, 17-25, 15-25, 25-19 and 15-6 victory on the road at USMMA-Kings Point on Thursday. Freshman
Ashleigh Scozzari (New Rochelle, N.Y.) had a big match for the Mount with 16 kills and three total blocks.
After totaling just 11 kills in three sets on Wednesday, the Mount posted 10 winners in the opening set on Thursday. Scozzari collected four in the opening frame, including back-to-back winners to key a 3-0 run to end the opening stanza.
After jumping out to a 1-0 lead, the Dolphins dropped the next two sets to the Mariners. In the second set, USMMA hit .312 as a team and used a 6-0 run to jump in front 12-8. Cassandra Palma paced the Mariner offensive attack with six kills and a .417 hitting percentage.
Following a third set loss, Mount Saint Vincent regrouped to take the fourth frame and level the match at 2-2. Trailing 7-6 in the fourth, the Dolphins used a 5-0 spurt, keyed by a pair of
Carly Jenkinson (Pacifica, Calif.) service aces, to take an 11-7 lead. After USMMA rallied for a 14-13 lead in the frame, the Mount used a second five point spurt to take secure the set victory.
Mount Saint Vincent kept the momentum going to start the deciding stanza and used another 5-0 run to open a comfortable lead. The Mariners would slice the lead to 8-5, but the Mount used a 7-1 run to close the set and pick up its second win of the season. Scozarri finished off two more kills over the run for the Dolphins.
The Mount put away 32 kills in the match on Thursday and hit .055 as a team. Scozzari picked up half of the team's winners with her 16 and hit .174 in the match. She rounded out a strong all-around match with four digs and three blocks, including two solos.
Kristine DeMasi (Brooklyn, N.Y.) rounded out the match with six kills for the Mount and lifted 11 digs to go along with a service ace. Jenkinson added match-highs with 19 digs on Thursday and six service aces.
Freshman
Zana Daluz (Pawtucket, R.I.) handed out 21 assists on the night and added seven digs and three kills.
Madeleine Garaicoa (Glendale, N.Y.)
Kaitlyn Gaynor (Island Park, N.Y.) and
Erika Moncada (Yonkers, N.Y.) each picked up six digs for the Mount.
Palma led the USMMA offensive attack on Thursday and tied Scozzari with a match-high 16 kills to go along with 11 digs. Caitlin McCabe racked up 12 kills and hit .435 in the match while lifting 12 digs and collecting two blocks.
Riley Huelbig was the third Mariner to record a double-double after handing out a match-high 29 assists to go along with 11 digs and Michelle Danhof added nine kills and a team-high 17 digs.
For the match, USMMA finished with 41 kills to 32 for the Mount and the Mariners also totaled 13 aces to 12 for the Dolphins. The Mariners did commit 32 attack errors and 20 service errors support Mount Saint Vincent's winning effort.
With Thursday's victory, Mount Saint Vincent sits a 2-1 overall on the season heading into the weekend. On Saturday the Dolphins will travel to William Paterson to take on the host Pioneers at 12:00 p.m. and then Cedar Crest at 2:00 p.m.