District of Columbia Evens Record With Thrilling, 3-2 Come-From-Behind Win at Mercy

DOBBS FERRY, NY – The University of the District of Columbia volleyball team twice came back from a set down to claim a thrilling, 3-2 victory at Mercy College in its East Coast Conference opener on Tuesday night. The Firebirds (5-5, 1-0 ECC) won 28-30, 27-25, 15-25, 25-18, 15-12.

Senior Vanessa Garley (Business Marketing – Rio Rancho, NM/Rio Rancho HS) and junior Julia Lynch (Art – Spring Creek, NV/Spring Creek HS) led the Firebird attack with 12 and 10 kills, respectively. Sophomore Kamene Rose (Psychology – Chula Vista, CA/Hilltop HS) orchestrated the attack with 33 assists while also leading the team's defensive efforts with 10 digs. Freshman Jazmin Rogers (Mechanical Engineering – Tucson, AZ/Palo Verde) also pitched in with seven kills and 10 digs.

 The Mavericks (2-6, 0-1 ECC) combined for 63 kills for the match – 31 of which were by Brenna White, who also had a match-high 16 digs. Mercy was plagued, however, by 43 attack errors and 10 service return errors.

The first set featured a back-and-forth battle that included 14 ties, including a 28-28 deadlock at the end. The Mavericks looked as though they would close out the set before extended play as they led 22-17, but a 7-1 Firebirds surge had the visitors one point away from a set victory, 24-23. District of Columbia had two more chances to put the match away (25-24, 28-27), but the Mavericks closed out the set on a 3-0 run to win 30-28.

Set two saw a see-saw battle early on as well, but the Firebirds began to take control when they broke a 9-9 tie with a 6-0 run to go up 15-9. Still in control late in the match up 23-19, the Firebirds allowed the Mavericks on a 6-1 run which put them in front 25-24 with a chance to go up in the match, 2-0 with just one more point. But after a Mercy attack error evened the score at 25-all, Lynch served one of her match-high six aces and Rogers sealed the win with a kill, as the Firebirds took set two, 27-25.

In set three, Mercy used a 15-3 run to take a commanding 21-9 lead and never looked back. The Mavericks hit .308 (13 kills, 5 errors, 26 TA) as a team and cruised to a 25-15 win to go up 2-1 in the match.

With their backs up against the wall, the Firebirds clawed and fought their way early on to a 14-14 deadlock before Garley led them on a 6-0 run with three kills to break open a 20-14 lead. They would go on to win the set 25-18 and even the match score once more at 2-2.

In the fifth and final set, Mercy had early leads of 8-4 and 10-6, but District of Columbia came storming back with a 6-0 rally, helped by two kills by junior Tara Usko (History – Spring Creek, NV/Spring Creek HS) and two more service aces by Lynch.  Mercy answered with two straight points to force a 12-12 tie, but three consecutive kills by the Firebirds (one by Rogers and the final two by Garley) led to a 15-12 set win to give District of Columbia a 3-2 match victory.

The Firebirds will look to continue their three-match win-streak on Thursday as they host ECC foe NYIT at 7 p.m.