Cindric, Murray Give Volleyball 3-1 Win over Bridgeport
NORTH ANDOVER, MA - Molly Cindric (Westlake Village,
CA) tallied her second double-double of the season leading
the Merrimack volleyball team to an impressive 3-1 victory over
Bridgeport University Friday afternoon at the Volpe Gym.
The win, which was Merrimack's fourth straight and eighth in
ninth matches, avenges a 3-0 defeat at the hands of the Purple
Knights two weeks ago. Game scores were 25-11, 25-14, 24-26, and
25-23.
"It was great to see the team come back after a third game loss
and really rely on themselves to put them over the top and prevent
a fifth game," said an elated head coach Joey Pacis after the
match.
The Warriors came out flying, getting 13 kills to just three
attack errors, while hitting .256 overall. Shaunda Forcier
(Gonic, NH) led the way with four kills, while the
Warriors tallied six first-game blocks, led by four from
Megan Murray (Rancho Santa Margarita, CA).
They continued their momentum into the second, using a 7-1 run
to take a commanding 17-9 lead behind a solo block from
Elyse Lorenz (Frankfurt, IL) and a kill from
Forcier. Alyssa Pickert (Tinley Park, IL) added 10
digs, while five players in all tallied kills.
In the third, Merrimack had its chance to close out the match up
24-21, but the Purple Knights rallied for the come-from-behind
26-24 victory behind three late kills from Agatha Baliddawa.
The Warriors never gave in despite falling behind 3-0 early in
the fourth. They rallied to take leads of 15-12 and 19-15 before
Cindric hit two straight aces for the 21-17 lead. But the Purple
Knights responded with three unanswered points to cut the lead to
one at 21-20 before the visitors turned the ball over on a critical
serving error. The teams traded points before Murray and
Natalee Yeazle (Blaine, MN) combined for the
team's 13th block of the match for the decisive point,
sending the Warriors to their first 8-2 start in school history.
The fourth game featured 15 tie scores and seven lead changes.
Cindric finished with 16 kills, 14 digs, three aces, and added
two blocks. Forcier finished with 12 kills, her second best
performance of the season, while Pickert had a season-best 30 digs.
Lorenz's five blocks and 43 assists are personal season-highs,
while Murray's nine block assists and one solo block are
career-highs. The junior had eight kills and hit .467.
Merrimack (8-2) heads to Bentley University Saturday to battle
Queens (10 a.m.) and New York Tech (1 p.m.) as part of the
ECC/Northeast-10 Challenge. Other teams participating include
Bentley, Franklin Pierce and Bridgeport.
