DOBBS FERRY, N.Y. – Felician University women's volleyball opened the 2026-27 season Thursday afternoon, falling to Mercy College, 3-0, at the Neil Judge Student Athlete Center. The Mavericks took the match by set scores of 25-15, 25-15 and 25-13.
Felician battled throughout the match, including a pair of stretches in which the Golden Falcons fought back from early deficits, but Mercy ultimately pulled away in each of the three sets. Felician finished the afternoon with 17 kills, four service aces and three total team blocks.
- Junior Sandra Galas who finished the 2025 Campaign as the NCAA Statistical Champion, recorded three kills and three service aces.
- Senior Ashanna Caviness recorded a team-high four kills while hitting .222 on 18 attacks.
- Faith Sibert added three kills on eight attacks, hitting a .375.
- Peyton Kellam contributed four kills, while Bentley Rone recorded one kill and eight assists.
- Felician totaled four service aces, with Galas accounting for three and Rone adding one.
- SET 1 (15-25) | Mercy jumped out to an 8-2 advantage before Felician began to chip away at the deficit. The Golden Falcons used a 4-0 stretch to cut the margin to 19-12, highlighted by an attack error from Mercy and a service ace from Galas. Felician continued to battle, with kills from Galas and Caviness bringing the Golden Falcons within 21-14 and 22-15, but Mercy closed the set with three straight points.
- SET 2 (15-25) | Felician opened the second frame with back-to-back points, including a service ace from Rone and a kill from Caviness. Mercy answered with a 9-1 run to take a 10-4 lead. The Golden Falcons continued to fight, pulling within 16-10 and later 23-15 following kills from Kellam, Galas and Sibert, but the Mavericks secured the final two points to take a 2-0 match lead.
- SET 3 (13-25) | Mercy again established an early advantage, taking an 11-3 lead. Felician responded with three consecutive points, including kills from Sibert and Galas, to make it 11-6. The Golden Falcons remained within striking distance at 15-9 after a Caviness kill, but Mercy used another extended run to take control. Galas delivered her second ace of the set to make it 23-13 before the Mavericks closed out the match, 25-13.
- Felician will continue its opening weekend at a tri-match hosted by Saint Michael's, facing both Saint Michael's and Assumption.
- The Golden Falcons will look to bounce back from Thursday's season-opening setback as they continue the 2026-27 campaign.
