Madison, NJ (September 20) –In both of their MAC Freedom season-openers, Misericordia (9-5, 1-0 MAC FREE) bested the FDU-Florham volleyball team (7-5, 0-1 MAC Free), 3-0 in both teams MAC Freedom opener.

Arianna Wood (Wayne, NJ) posted a team-high eight kills and had four digs on the night. Charlotte Fruscione (Mahwah, NJ) collected another double-digit dig effort with 12 to go along with two service aces while Rachel Reiter (Riverside, Calif.) tallied four blocks and three kills. Victoria Carrico (Mountainside, NJ) accumulated 13 assists during the conference matchup.

Set 1: The Cougars jumped out to a 7-1 advantage before a kill by Wood helped push some momentum back towards the Devils. FDU got as close as 10-8before MU flipped the game back into their control with a 6-1 run to take a 16-9 lead. A kill by Jada Everett (Hackensack, NJ) tried to spark something for the Devils in the set but the Cougars kept hammering away with five unanswered points to make the score, 21-10. The lead was to great to overcome for Fairleigh Dickinson and Misericordia took set one with a score of 25-14.

Set 2: Misericordia once again got things going early with a 6-0 lead before Fairleigh Dickinson fought back to bring it to a 8-7 MU lead with kills from Vanessa Freeman (Piscataway, NJ), Everett and Reiter highlighting the bounce back. The Cougars found another unanswered run of seven points to jump out to a 15-7 advantage and eventually progressed to a 21-10 edge. FDU did not falter though as they created a 7-3 run to make the score, 24-20. The Devils then scored three straight to potentially bring it to extra points but a kill by Jennifer Nicometo finished off the set for Misericordia to take a 2-0 lead.

Set 3: The third set did not start like the rest as it was a back-and-forth set with both teams going point for point. FDU the lead at the 8-7 score mark but MU fought back. Neither team was able to create a true run but the Cougars were finding more pairs of points then the Devils were and they eventually jumped out to a 19-16 lead. Fairleigh Dickinson found a point but it was immediately answered by three-straight points for Misericordia. FDU was never able to create that run they needed and eventually Misericordia won the set, 25-20 and went home with the victory.

The Devils return to non-conference play on Friday, September 22 at 7:00 pm as they host SUNY Maritime.

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