Game Recap: Volleyball Falls to Northampton

The Montgomery County Community College Mustangs volleyball team fell 2-3 to the Northampton Community College Spartans Thursday.

The Mustangs faced steep competition as they traveled to Bethlehem to square off against the Spartans. The first two games went to the Spartans, who topped the Mustangs 25-13 and 25-12.

"Northampton did a good job of coming out strong on their home court and winning the first two matches," noted Mustangs Head Coach Misti Volpe. "However, I had total confidence in our girls and they rose to the occasion to answer back in games three and four."

And answer back they did. The Mustangs were able to regroup in game three when sophomore Briana Rodriguez went on a serving run to ignite her team. Rodriguez landed six consecutive aces to take the 25-22 win.

The Mustangs trailed the Spartans 2-1 going into game four, but managed to tie up the match with the help of a strong offensive showing by freshman Liz Herezi.

"I knew going into the game that it would be a strong match," commented Herezi. "I prepared myself mentally and put everything I had into it."

The Mustangs pulled out a 25-23 win in game four to send the teams into a game-deciding fifth set. Played only to 15 points, the final set was a close one until the Spartans pulled away with an 8-5 lead. The Mustangs tried to make up the deficit but the Spartans held on to seal the evening's win with a 15-10 final set score.

Herezi led the team with nine kills for the evening, followed by Rodriguez with eight and Alex Griffin with seven. Nikki Reichert dished out 28 assists and four aces. The team collectively earned a passing efficiency of 90%.

Defensively the Mustangs amassed an impressive 53 digs, led by Griffin with 16, sophomore libero Kelsey Kowalick with 13 and Reichert with 12. The team's dig efficiency averaged ou at 78%.

"I could not be more proud of the effort put forth by our squad this evening," said Volpe. "They took every ounce of effort they had and left it on the court. We know what areas we need to improve on and I am confident we will be prepared for our next match up with Northampton."

Herezi echoed the sentiment. "I cannot wait to face off against this team again!"

Herezi and her team will have the chance to take on Northampton again on Thursday Sept. 27th. The home match will start at 7:00 p.m.

But until then the Mustangs have three matches to focus on, two of which will occur this weekend at the team's annual "Women in Red" tri-match. Women in Red is a division of the American Heart Association which promotes cardiovascular health for women of all ages. On Saturday the Mustangs will host Harrisburg Area Community College and Lehigh Carbon Community College for a trimatch to support the cause. Each team will wear red and the Mustangs will be collecting donations. Games start at noon in the Physical Education Building at Central Campus.