Lorenz Gets Career Set Mark; Volleyball Drops Five-Set Thriller to Bentley
NORTH ANDOVER, MA – Junior Elyse Lorenz
(Frankfurt, IL) became the all-time school leader in
career assists, but the Merrimack volleyball team dropped a 3-2
thriller to rival Bentley University, in a match that featured a
19-17 tie-breaking fifth set Wednesday night at the Volpe Gym.
Game scores were 14-25, 25-18, 21-25, 25-18, and 19-17, as
Merrimack fell to 1-3 in five-set matches this season.
In a match that saw career-highs in kills from freshmen
Shaunda Forcier (Gonic, NH) and Natalee
Yeazle (Blaine, MN) and a career-high seven block assists
from classmate Jenna Reilly (Northport, NY),
Merrimack trailed the entire fifth set, before tying it up at 12
with the 19th kill of the night from Molly Cindric
(Westlake Village, CA).
The set also was incredibly deadlocked at 13, 14, 15, 16 and 17
before an Amy Waitkus kill and a Kristine Mickelson block gave the
Falcons the dramatic 19-17 fifth-set victory.
The final set featured three match points averted by the hosts,
with Cindric netting kills on two of them and Forcier on the other.
The Warriors only led once, at 15-16 after a block from Reilly and
Yeazle, but Alaura Barry responded with two straight kills to
regain the lead for the visitors.
Merrimack won the first set as it built a 16-9 lead behind three
kills, two digs and a block from Yeazle. Her third kill came off
Lorenz's eighth and record-breaking assist, breaking the
all-time mark of 3,134 set by Kendall Rizzo
(2001-04). Two straight kills from Cindric and a Falcon
attack error pushed the lead to 23-12 as Merrimack picked up the
25-14 victory on Cindric's fourth kill of the set.
The hosts took a 9-4 second set advantage, but the Falcons
recovered, using a 10-2 run to take a 14-11 lead. After Bentley
pushed its lead to 23-16, the Warriors got consecutive kills from
Reilly and Cindric to cut the deficit to five, but a service error
turned the ball over, and the Falcons put the set away at 25-18
behind a kill from Berry.
Merrimack took control early in the third, breaking a 4-4 tie with
five straight points to go up 9-4, two on Cindric kills and three
off Falcon attack errors. The Falcons crept back into the set and
remained in it throughout, until Merrimack rattled off six of the
final 10 points, with the Warrior freshmen playing a major role as
Reilly recorded a kill and two block assists down the stretch,
while Forcier and Yeazle notched the final two kills in succession
to give the hosts the 2-1 advantage.
But the Falcons recovered in the fourth to force a decisive fifth
set, taking an early 12-9 lead and cruising to the 25-18 victory,
taking advantage of 10 Merrimack attack errors to set up the fifth
and decisive set.
"We just have continue to move forward," said head coach Joey
Pacis. "The kids played great tonight. Their effort was excellent
and if we bring that effort with us the rest of the season, we'll
be just fine."
After a season-high 58 assists in Wednesday's match, the
junior captain has 3,185 assists in her impressive Merrimack
career.
Cindric finished with her 10th double-double of the season on 21
kills and 23 digs and added three block assists, while hitting .220
overall. Yeazle totaled a career-high 11 kills and added six digs
and four blocks, while Forcier tallied 13 kills. Reilly was sharp
on both sides of the ball, tallying nine kills, seven block assists
and two digs. Alyssa Pickert (Tinley Park, IL) had
40 digs, while Megan Murray (Rancho Santa Margarita,
CA) picked up 10 kills, as Merrimack, which has lost three
conference matches in a row for the first time since October 20-28
of 2006, had 67 total kills, hitting .150 in the match.
Berry led the Falcons with 13 kills, while Alex Kearney had a
double-double on 12 kills and 17 digs. Mickelson had two solo
blocks and eight block assists to go with eight kills. Bentley
(13-10, 8-3 NE-10) saved its best for last, hitting a match best
.234 and posting a 68% side out percentage in the fifth set.
Merrimack (17-8, 6-5 NE-10) travels to Oakdale, New York to battle
NYIT at 2 p.m. and Dowling College, the top-ranked team in the
region, at 4 p.m. in non-conference matches on Saturday.
