RUTHERFORD, N.J. – The Mercy College women's volleyball team used a dominant fourth set to close out its 3-1 (25-15, 20-25, 25-18, 25-9) non-conference victory over host Felician College on Thursday night at Job Gymnasium.

After the teams split the first two sets, Mercy (1-4) opened up a 16-10 lead in Set 3, and maintained at least a four-point edge the rest of the way, to pull back ahead. The Mavericks then thwarted any hopes of a Felician comeback by hitting .500 in Set 4, breaking away from a 5-5 tie by scoring 16 of the next 18 points.

The Mavericks ran up an 18-2 advantage in service aces for the night. Mercy junior Nicolette Gebhardt (Middletown, N.Y./Pine Bush) paced the offense by hitting .367 with 15 kills. The Maverick defense, led by 13 digs from junior Kirstie Zubiate (Salinas, Calif.), held the hosts to a .009 team attack percentage.  

Sophomore Tonia Ford (Bayonne, N.J./Bayonne) posted a career-high five blocks for Felician (0-8). Freshman Kayla Gallagher (Bloomingburg, N.Y./Pine Bush) had seven kills and three blocks, and freshman Olivia Emerson (Sparks, Nev./TMCC) topped the Golden Falcons with nine kills.