Firebirds Volleyball Soars Past Mercy, 3-1 to Complete Season Sweep

WASHINGTON, DC – The University of the District of Columbia volleyball team stormed back from a 1-0 match deficit to claim a 3-1 (20-25, 25-16, 25-19, 25-17) victory at home Tuesday night and complete a season sweep of East Coast Conference foe Mercy College.

With the win, the Firebirds snapped a three-match losing streak and improved to 8-11 overall and 3-6 in league play. Mercy fell to 3-16 overall and remains winless in the ECC at 0-8.

Leading District of Columbia offensively were sophomore Ariana Scott (Business – Lakewood, CA/Mayfair HS) and senior Vanessa Garley (Marketing – Rio Rancho, NM/Rio Rancho HS). Scott hit a blistering .450 for the night with 11 kills while Garley hit an impressive .409 while recording 11 kills as well. Also, sophomore setter Kamene Rose (Psychology – Chula Vista, CA/Hilltop HS) tied her season-high with 41 assists.

The Mavericks were led offensively by Nicolette Gebhardt (16 kills, .400 hitting) and Nicole Pepe (10 kills, .429 hitting). McKenna Ronan, who recently surpassed 1,000 career assists, directed the offense with 33 in a losing effort tonight.

Mercy quickly jumped out to a 10-2 lead in the first set and never looked back. Rose sparked a 7-3 Firebird run with two consecutive service aces to cut the deficit to three (14-11), but the Mavericks answered with a 5-1 charge to take back control of the set with a 19-12 advantage. The visitors went on to win the first set, 25-20 and claim a 1-0 match lead.

The second set was a back-and-forth affair early on, but the Firebirds flipped a narrow 8-7 deficit and turned it into an 11-8 advantage after four consecutive unforced Mercy errors. Later, a kill by Scott sparked a 5-0 Firebirds run that gave the hosts' a commanding 23-15 lead, and District of Columbia closed out the set, 25-16 on consecutive kills by juniors Tara Usko (History – Spring Creek, NV/Spring Creek HS) and Julia Lynch (Studio Art – Spring Creek, NV/Spring Creek HS).

With the match even at one apiece, the Firebirds took control of the third set with a 7-0 rally to pull ahead, 11-5. Usko and Scott had a kill apiece and Rose tallied two service aces during that stretch as District of Columbia overcame a 5-4 deficit and would never trail in the set again. The Mavericks did close the gap to 11-10 after a 6-1 run, but the Firebirds responded with a 7-2 run to take a 19-13 lead. District of Columbia never allowed Mercy within five points the rest of the way, as Garley finished off the set, 25-19 with a kill.

Trailing 8-7 in the fourth set, the Firebirds pulled in front to stay with a 6-0 run helped along by five Mercy attack errors. Later, Mercy scored two consecutive points to pull within three (16-13), but the Firebirds answered with four straight points, including a kill apiece by Garley, Usko and Scott, to go up 20-13. District of Columbia would go on to win the set by its largest margin, 25-17 as freshman Jazmin Rogers (Mechanical Engineering – Tucson, AZ/Palo Verde HS) closed out the match by blasting her eighth and final kill of the night.

Next up, the Firebirds will visit ECC foe NYIT on Thursday, October 18^th at 7 p.m.