Mustangs Down Eastern Mennonite in Season Finale
MESSIAH, Pa. - Stevenson women's volleyball junior Alex Mercer (Eldersbury/Liberty) totaled 28 kills and a .305 hitting percentage as the Mustangs concluded the 2009 season by splitting its final two games at Messiah, losing to the host Falcons 25-16, 25-23, 25-21 before finishing the year with a 23-25, 25-18, 27-25, 25-23 win over Eastern Mennonite.
The Mustangs (13-20) finished the season with 13 wins, giving them 45 of the last two, the highest two-year total in school history after the team won a school record 32 a year ago.
Mercer totaled nine kills versus Messiah before adding a season-high 19 in the win over Eastern Mennonite.
Freshmen Avery Gabbard (Arnold/Broadneck) and Kristen Lubeski (Bishopville/Stephen Decatur) each added six kills against the Falcons (17-13) who hit .314 as a team and totaled 38 kills. They also had eight total blocks to limit the Mustangs' to a .149 percentage.
Stevenson fell behind 10-3 in the first set and later trailed by as many as 10 before cutting the deficit to four at 19-15. However, Messiah closed the set with six of the last seven points to hold on for the nine-point win.
The Mustangs scored the first three points of the second set on three consecutive service aces from sophomore Alexa Carney (Towson/Towson). They stretched the lead to as many as four before the Falcons rallied for the first of six ties at 12-12.
With the set tied at 19-19, Messiah went on a 4-1 run to open a 23-20 lead before Stevenson answered with three-straight points to tie it for the sixth time.
The Falcons would pull out the two-point win after a Mustang attack error and a kill from Lindsay King.
Teh third set was started off back-and-fourth until Messiah broke a 14-14 tie to take a 22-17 lead en route to a 25-21 game-clinching victory.
Carney finished with a team-high eight digs while senior Marissa Bender (Hagerstown/South Hagerstown) and sophomore Brooke Gilley (Bel Air/C. Milton Wright) each had six. Sophomore Amy Rudolph (North East/Rising Sun) added 24 assists.
Stevenson totaled 47 kills in the win over Eastern Mennonite (10-18), 19 from Mercer, 11 from junior Dani Katsampis (New Windsor/Francis Scott Key) and nine from Gabbard.
Gabbard also had 12 digs, one behind Carney's team-high 13 while Bender and Rudolph each had nine. Rudolph also added 40 assists.
The first set featured 11 ties and three lead changes before the Royals rallied for a two-point victory.
Stevenson dominated the second set, jumping out to a 6-0 lead before taking a 20-10 advantage, scoring eight-straight points behind Carney's servce. Eastern Mennonite attempted a rally, cutting the deficit to 22-17 before the Mustangs scored two of the final three points on Royal errors for a 25-18 victory.
The third set was extremely tight as neither team led by more than two until Stevenson took a 20-17 advantage. The set featured 17 ties and seven lead changes before the Mustangs scored four of the final five points after facing set point at 24-23.
Stevenson trailed just once in the fourth and deciding set en route to squeaking out a two-point game-clinching victory.
