EASTON, Mass. (October 4, 2024) - The Stonehill College volleyball team defeated Mercyhurst University, 3-2, in a five-set, Northeast Conference opening matchup at Merkert Gymnasium Friday night. The Skyhawks and Lakers will play one more tomorrow at 4 p.m. at Merkert Gym to close out their first weekend of NEC action.
 
Stonehill 3, Mercyhurst 2 (25-16, 17-25, 23-25, 25-21, 16-14)
 
Highlights

• Junior Mia Berardino (Rowley, Mass) tallied a career-high 21 kills, two service aces, and had 14 digs on the defensive end as she excelled on both sides of the floor. Berardino now ranks third in the NEC in points per set (3.60) and fourth in kills per set (3.17)
• Freshman Paloma Gonzalez Jaramillo (Wylie, Texas) had a career-high 11 kills in the win, recording four digs as well.
• Sophomore libero Sarah Frager (Mooresville, N.C.) set a new career-high with 20 digs while recording the first kill of the season.
• Sophomore Georgia Murphy (Plano, Texas) had eight kills, two block assists, and two digs while senior Emma Graves (Vestal, N.Y.) tallied six kills with two block assists and two digs.
• Sophomore Amaya Parnell (Portland, Ore.) led Stonehill with 25 assists, her third game of the season with at least 25+ helpers. Parnell also had one kill, one ace, and four digs.
• Sophomore Maddie Schamaun (Rockville, Md.) recorded 25 assists as well as a career and team-high five aces

SET 1 | Stonehill scored three of the first four points to open the match, and back-to-back aces from Gabi Polishuk (Woodland Hills, Calif.) put the Skyhawks ahead 9-5. Mercyhurst trimmed its deficit to two points, 16-14, but Stonehill used three kills from Berardino, two from Watson, and another two from Gonzalez Jaramillo to end the set on a 9-2 run, winning 25-16.
 
SET 2 | The Skyhawks took an early 6-3 lead, but the score flipped in favor of the Lakers as they went up 10-7 after a pair of aces from Kaitlyn Murphy. Stonehill tied the score seven more times through the middle of the set as the two NEC opponents were deadlocked at 16-16. Mercyhurst scored nine of the final 10 points, tying the match and winning the set, 25-17.
 
SET 3 | The beginning of the third saw Stonehill in the lead with a few ties mixed in, but Mercyhurst eventually took the lead, 11-10, after a pair of attack errors from the Skyhawks. Four straight points from Stonehill put the Skyhawks ahead by three, 14-11, and they would hold the lead until the score was 19-17. Mercyhurst would score the next seven points, taking a 24-19 lead late in the third set. Stonehill responded with four straight points to make it 24-23 but the Lakers got a kill from Paige Miller to secure the 25-23 win, taking a 2-1 lead in the match.
 
SET 4 | Berardino, Graves, and Murphy tallied kills for the first three Skyhawk scores as Stonehill took the early 3-1 lead. Mercyhurst scored four points unanswered to take a 5-4 lead, eventually going up by as much as three, 8-5. The Lakers clung to a 13-11 lead, but a 4-0 run from the Skyhawks put Stonehill back in front as Berardino and Gonzalez Jaramillo each recorded two kills in the comeback effort. The teams continued to go back and forth with four more ties until a 6-2 scoring run from the Skyhawks with two kills from Murphy put the Lakers away, 25-21, tying the match, 2-2.
 
SET 5 | Stonehill scored the first point of the fifth set before Mercyhurst notched three straight scores to take a 3-1 lead. A pair of errors from the Lakers put Stonehill back in the lead, 5-4, but Mercyhurst put together a string of three straight scores to regain the advantage. The Lakers continued to roll in the fifth set, holding three-point leads at 10-7 and 12-9 until the momentum swung to the Skyhawks as sophomore Abby Farrell (Reading, Mass.) notched two service aces amidst a 5-0 run to make it match point, 14-12. Mercyhurst tied it up at 14-14 but Berardino's 21st kill of the night and an ace from Shamaun gave the Skyhawks the 16-14 win in the decisive fifth set.
 
Up Next
Stonehill Volleyball is back home at Merkert Gymnasium tomorrow night for another Northeast Conference matchup against Mercyhurst at 4 p.m.

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