DOBBS FERRY, N.Y. – In the early part of last season, five-set matches were not kind to Post University Women's Volleyball as the Eagles had lost 11 straight five-set matches before snapping the streak against Holy Family University on October 14th. Since that match, the Eagles had won three straight five-set matches entering the year and had a chance to buck that early season trend from a year ago against Mercy University on Thursday night in their 2024 opener on the road.

After dominating the first set and being on the brink of victory needing to take just the fourth set to secure the win, the Mavericks fought back to force that decisive fifth set. In what became a back-and-forth frame, the winning ways continued for Post when their backs were against the wall, taking their fourth straight match that went to five sets dating back to last year to win 3-2 over Mercy and starting the season with a 1-0 record. 

THE BASICS

Post University 3, Mercy University 2

Post University (1-0)

Mercy University (0-1)

HOW IT HAPPENED
Set one was all Eagles early and often as they jumped out to an 8-2 lead following a 5-0 run courtesy of four Mavericks errors and what the box score called a Coach Sanction to take control. Errors would be the theme of the first set for the Mavericks as they had a total of seven in the opening frame compared to just nine kills on 31 attempts for a .065 attack percentage. Limiting the errors to just three was a big reason why the Eagles were able to take the first set by nine points, 25-16, and the early match lead. 

In all five sets, Mercy would commit five or more errors compared to Post who had three sets in which they committed three or fewer errors, including one in the decisive fifth set, and a pair of sets where they committed five-plus errors in the contest. While one of those sets would not be the second and the Eagles battled back from an early 6-1 deficit to take multiple leads, the last time they would find themselves in front was by a 16-14 score. 

Junior Gabriela Bieniek rattled off three consecutive service aces during a 5-0 run for the Mavericks to take a three-point lead, 19-16, and once Post got back to within one, another 4-0 run courtesy of two Eagle errors and two kills from freshman Grace Dilena gave Mercy the cushion they needed to take the 25-19 win in set two. 

Both teams would split each of the next two sets with nearly identical scores as Post was on the brink of victory after a 25-18 win in set three before the Mavericks won set four, 25-19, to force that fifth set. In both cases, each team led the set they won nearly wire-to-wire to knot the match up at two sets apiece. 

Leading early in set five, 4-2, it looked like Post would be able to pull away before Mercy regained momentum as Bieniek led a 4-0 run with three kills of her own to put the Mavericks ahead, 6-4. A combination of seven errors between both teams over the next seven points shifted the set back in favor of the Eagles, 9-8, before eight ties and three lead changes occurred en route to Post's win.

Senior outside hitter Caley Harper put the Eagles on the brink of winning with a kill and service ace to make it 14-13 in a 15-point set, but then committed a service error to tie it back up at 14. Once again within one of winning, the Mavericks turned the tables with a kill from sophomore Janneliz Rodriguez Fuentes and service ace by sophomore Alanis Calderon to put Post on the edge of defeat.

However, with the never-say-quit attitude they had all night and the continued issues with committing errors for Mercy, it would be a Calderon service error and an attack error by Dilena around a kill from graduate outside hitter Sara Enright that sealed the fifth set win, 18-16, and 3-2 road final for the Eagles. In that final set, the Mavericks had six errors to Post's one despite having 11 kills compared to eight for the Eagles who attacked at a .333 percentage to hold on for the win. 

BY THE NUMBERS

• Finishing with a gaudy attack percentage of .387, Kristina Peric led the way for Post with a team-high 15 kills and was responsible for 15.5 points out of the 64 recorded by the Eagles in the match 
• Alyssa Groves is on record watch this year for the most digs in program history after breaking 1,000 digs last season as a sophomore -- With 22 digs tonight, Groves sits at 1,059 in her career which is just outside of the top 10 in program history while Kerry Smith (2005-08) owns the record with 1,689 career digs 
• This is the first time since 2021 and the first time under Head Coach Tiffany Verni in which Post University has won their season opener -- That year was the final with Michael Brienza at the helm, a 3-1 victory over Southern New Hampshire University
• Since dropping 11 consecutive matches that went five sets, Post University has won their last four five-set matches dating back to that streak-snapping win in five over Holy Family University at home 

WHO'S NEXT
Before their home opener next Wednesday night in the Drubner Center, Post University will hit the road with a tri-match against Queens College and Southern Connecticut State University on the campus of Southern Connecticut in New Haven, Connecticut on Saturday afternoon at 2:00 and 4:00 PM respectively. Playing those two teams last year, the Knights defeated Post, 3-1, while the Owls took two matches from the Eagles at home and on the road with a pair of sweeps.