NEW YORK, N.Y.- In front of a home crowd dressed in pink, the Hunter College women's volleyball team delivered a statement win on Thursday night, rallying from a set down twice to defeat Merchant Marine in a five-set thriller at the Sportsplex with set scores of 19-25, 25-23, 14-25, 25-23, 16-14. The win comes on the team's Dig Pink Game for breast cancer awareness night.
The Hawks, now 6-16 overall, weathered early inconsistencies before storming back in the fourth and fifth sets behind explosive offense and timely defense at the net highlighted by the duo of
Lily Mattison and
Michelle Liu.
After dropping the first and third sets, Hunter dug deep to win a back-and-forth fourth frame. Tied at 23 late in the set, Hunter capitalized on a pair of attack errors and a kill from Mattison to force a decisive fifth set.
In the final set, neither team led by more than two points. With the score tied at 14-14, the Hawks closed it out with a massive block assist from Liu and Mattison, followed by an attack error forced by a tough serve from
Madeline Snyder, sealing the 16-14 comeback win.
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Amina Moummad delivered her most dominant performance of the season, notching a career-high 21 kills on 58 swings with a .276 hitting percentage, while adding 15 digs and an ace for a match-high 22.5 points.
Mattison continued her consistent play, contributing 12 kills on .310 hitting, along with six total blocks and 13 digs. Liu chipped in with nine kills and six block assists, and
Kassidy Cruz Nuesi added 10 kills.
Snyder orchestrated the offense with 42 assists and 13 digs, while
Natalie Morrill led the defensive effort in the back row with nine digs and two service aces.
Natalie Polanco added five digs and a key ace in the final stretch.
As a team, Hunter hit .228 with 56 kills, 12 total blocks, and 78 digs, while holding Merchant Marine to .241 in a tightly contested match that saw 35 tied scores and 21 lead changes.
The Purple and Gold return to the court for a tri-match against Mount Saint Mary College and Ramapo in Ramapo, N.J.
