MORRISVILLE, N.Y. – The Morrisville State Women's Volleyball team could not overcome an early two set deficit despite the comeback attempt, falling to the Lakers from Oswego State 3 sets to 1 on Sunday night.
After participating in the opening match on Saturday, the Mustangs returned to the court on Sunday night and struggled to find their footing early in the match. The offense sputtered early as the visiting Lakers hit .406 with 15 kills in the opening set while the home squad committed 7 attack errors and only put away 10 kills.
Morrisville started to find their groove in the second set, holding Oswego State to just 6 kills. However, despite putting away 17 kills, 8 hitting errors in the second set still gave the Lakers the 25-21 set victory.
The third set proved to be a back and forth affair until late when Sam Wolf (Liverpool, N.Y.) served six straight points, taking the Mustangs from just an 18-17 advantage to 24-17. Wolf's string of serves was propelled by the offensive attack of Megyan Merrill (Millport, N.Y.) who put away 4 kills during the run. Morrisville picked up the third set 25-18.
The Mustangs and the Lakers traded points throughout the first part of the fourth set, but a series of errors allowed the visitors to begin to pull away. Down 9-13, Wolf again served the Mustangs back into the game, knotting the set at 13 all. Points were traded again throughout the rotation, but Morrisville still found their backs against the wall. Merrill drove home a monster kill off of a set from Helena Hanes (Brockport, Pa.) to halt the Lakers at 24 points.
Wolf found herself in a position again to serve the Mustangs back into the game, taking her squad from 20-24 to a 24-24 tie. Needing to win the set by two points, both squads fought to gain the advantage. Unfortunately for the Mustangs, it was the Lakers who would eventually find two back-to-back points to win the set 31-29 off of the hand of Lauren Fie.
Merrill led the way offensively for the Mustangs, finishing the match with a match-high 27 kills. Hanes dished out 32 assists, while Kim Dunkleman (Williamsville, N.Y.) added 14.
Defensively, the Morrisville front line combined for 8 blocks, while the back line picked up 62 digs. Four Mustangs finished with double digit kills with Wolf and Amelia Baratier (Liverpool, N.Y.) leading the way with 14 each, while Merrill finished with 13 and Dunkleman finished with 10.
For their efforts this weekend, Wolf and Merrill were voted to the All-Tournament Team. Wolf was voted as the Libero of the Tournament as well.
Morrisville will have a fairly quick turnaround as they head to Cazenovia College on Wednesday evening at 7 PM for their North Eastern Athletic Conference (NEAC) opener. The Mustangs will play their next home match on Friday, September 15 as they host NEAC Pre-Season #1 selection, Gallaudet University at 4 PM followed non-conference opponent, Geneseo at 8 PM.
Morrisville State College's curricula are enriched with applied learning and pave the way for opportunity at both the Morrisville and Norwich campuses. An action-oriented, interactive learning lab, the college is a national leader in technology and has been lauded for its exemplary, innovative and effective community service programs.
The college was ranked among the Best Regional Colleges in the North by U.S. News and World Report Best Colleges 2016 issue and was also recognized in the Top Public Schools, Regional Colleges North in the 2016 Best Colleges rankings. For more information about Morrisville State College, visit www.morrisville.edu.
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