MORRISVILLE, N.Y. – The Mustangs returned to the court on Wednesday night after nearly a week layoff to take on Wells College in a key North Eastern Athletic Conference (NEAC) matchup. Morrisville struggled with their timing in the first set, falling 18-25, but rebounded in the next three sets to pick up the 3-1 win.
The Mustangs fell behind quickly in the first set as the Express came out with a strong serve attack. Down 5-1, Morrisville cleaned up their serve receive, but the offense struggled to find their footing throughout the rest of the first set, committing seven attack errors. The home squad would ultimately fall 18-25 in the first set.
Morrisville turned the tables quickly in the second set. Up just 3-2 early on, Amelia Baratier (Liverpool, N.Y.) served the Mustangs to seven straight points. During the streak, Kirsten Florio (Wellsboro, Pa.) picked up three big kills, while Helena Hanes (Brockport, N.Y.) added two.
Wells, worked their way back into the set, cutting the Morrisville lead to just four points. However, a strong serve run by Sam Wolf (Liverpool, N.Y.), two kills by Hanes, and two Wells attack errors put the Mustangs up for good as they went on to even the match at 1-1 with a 25-15 second set win.
The Mustangs flexed their muscle in the third set putting away 15 kills to just eight for the Express. Anna Salamino (Liverpool, N.Y.) and Megyan Merrill (Millport, N.Y.) put together back-to-back strong serve runs to pick up the 25-13 third set win.
Morrisville and Wells went back and forth trading points through the first half of the fourth set. Down 15-16, Merrill swung the momentum in the Mustangs favor with a big kill, putting the ball back into the hands of Salamino who once again served Morrisville into the lead.
Wells would make one final push, but it was not enough as the Mustangs held on for the 25-20 fourth set win to end the evening with the 3-1 match victory.
Merrill led the way offensively for the Mustangs, putting away 17 kills. Baratier added 11 and Florio and Hanes each picked up 10. Hanes and Kim Dunkleman (Williamsville, N.Y.) combined for 47 assists.
Morrisville has a big weekend ahead of them as Penn College and Penn State-Berks travel north for a NEAC cross-over event. Cazenovia will be the hosts for the Saturday cross-over. The Mustangs will first clash with Penn State-Berks at noon before taking on Penn College at 2 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 & World Report Best Colleges 2018 issue and was also recognized in the Top Public Schools, Regional Colleges North in the 2018 Best Colleges rankings. For more information about Morrisville State College, visit www.morrisville.edu.
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