Mount Comes Back to Beat Hunter; Split Tri-Match

MAHWAH, NJ – The Mount Saint Mary College women’s volleyball team split its tri-match at Ramapo.

Match 1
Mount Saint Mary started off their day against the host school, Ramapo. Ava DiScala got the first couple of points for the Knights, but the Roadrunners got off to a big 13-4 lead.

The Mount slowly chipped away at their deficit thanks to a couple of aces from Sofia Fredericks and a couple of kills from Jonaiya Williams. Ramapo would find themselves up 24-19 at match point, though the Knights would make it difficult for the Roadrunners. Ava Robles came in to serve as the Mount scored 4 straight to make it 24-23 Ramapo, but Roadrunners would come away with the first set 25-23.

The Knights would go up 7-4 to begin the second set right before exploding for a 7-0 run to take a big 15-8 lead. Freshman Nicolette Pirro helped to provide a much-needed spark in the second set for the Mount. Although the Knights held a comfortable 20-14 lead late in the set, Ramapo came storming back, tying the game at 23-23 before taking the second set right from Mount Saint Mary 26-24.

The Mount needed to win this set to stay alive, and everyone, including Jonaiya Williams knew this. Williams scored on 3 straight kill attempts, as the Knights led 9-6. Mount Saint Mary held a small lead for most of the set, but no lead was safe, as seen in the last set.

With the Knights up 23-18, Ramapo scored 4 straight, and weren’t going to give them anything easy. Julianna Simone settled the Mount with a kill as they were able to win the set 25-22.

The Knights looked to bring some of that momentum from the last set into the fourth. The Roadrunners would go on a 9-1 run after Mount Saint Mary started off with a lead, to go up 13-7. The Knights battled back to tie the set up 17-17 after Vanessa Seymour set up Mackenzie Warmoth for a kill. This set came down to the wire, but Ramapo would ultimately come out on top 25-23 and win the match 3-1.

Match 2
The Knights got right back onto the court against Hunter College and started off well, taking a 4-1 lead to open the first set with a couple of kills from the team’s kill leader in the match, Jonaiya Williams. The Hawks exploded for a 9-1 run to take the lead, but Brooke Lavelle put the Mount right back into the set with back-to-back kills. The Knights eventually tied it up 15-15 after an ace from Julianna Simone, as they looked to take a pivotal 1-0 lead in the match. A huge 8-1 run from Mount Saint Mary gave them a 23-18 lead, and Vanessa Seymour would put the finishing touches on the set as the Knights won 25-20.

Both teams went back and forth to open up the second set, as Hunter was able to manage a 12-9 lead early on. The Knights would tie the game back up after kills from Ava DiScala and Jonaiya Williams assisted by Sofia Fredericks. Hunter came up big late in the set with an 8-1 run that gave them a 24-16 lead at set point. This was too much for the Mount to overcome as the Hawks tied the match 1-1.

Hunter started off the set with a slight lead, before the Knights tied the set up 10-10. From here, what could go wrong did go wrong for Mount Saint Mary as they only scored 1 point the remainder of the set. The Hawks scored 11 unanswered and 15 of the last 16 points of the set to win 25-11 and take a 2-1 lead.

It seemed like all the momentum was on Hunter’s side, as they opened up the fourth set up 5-1, looking to win three straight sets. The Knights answered the call and turned the tide, tying the set up 8-8. They battled hard with everyone in the lineup moving on all cylinders. With the Mount down 17-16, Nicolette Pirro and Jonaiya Williams provided the spark needed to pull away, scoring the team’s next 6 points together, leading the set 23-19. In a win-or-go-home scenario, Mount Saint Mary was able to force a fifth set after winning 25-22.

Although the fifth set got off to a good start for the Knights, who led 7-3, it would be just as hectic as the rest of the match. Hunter would come back and lead the set 14-11 at match point. Just when it looked like the Hawks were going to come out victorious, the Knights came out of nowhere to shock everyone watching. Mount Saint Mary scored the last 5 points of the match to stun Hunter 16-14 in the final set and win the match 3-2.