By JONAS MILLER
Co-Executive Editor
There was celebration before the match, but not after. It was senior day for the volleyball team on Saturday afternoon, and while it was all smiles and cheers early on, disappointment was all that followed.
In a considerably shocking upset, the Merrimack Warriors (3-9, 5-22) upended the Golden Knights (5-7, 10-14) in four sets in front of the faithful gold and black home crowd in Daniel P. Nolan gymnasium.
The five graduating seniors saying goodbye to the home fans were Maryellen Devic, Rachel Salasky, Erica Ziskin, Jennifer Gundrum and Samantha Atchinson.
“I’m going to miss the competitive atmosphere they bring to the team,” said junior Cara Kullman. “It’s going to be hard to say goodbye to the people I’ve called my family for the last three years.”
Before the match, each athlete was announced and photographed with their family at center court, receiving thunderous applause from those who have watched them grow over the last four years.
The smiles quickly faded as the team struggled early on.
Saint Rose got off to a rocky start in the first set, with several early attack errors forcing coach Vanessa Volpe-Rivera to call a timeout, but despite her early intervention, the Golden Knights never quite got on track and dropped the first set by 12 points, 25-13.
While errors plagued the Golden Knights’ first set, where they converted on only six of 31 attack opportunities, the switch seemed to have been flipped during the first intermission as the tables completely turned in the second set.
Merrimack caught the bug, committing nine errors to Saint Rose’s one. The Warriors’ mistakes, coupled with a 44 percent conversion rate for the Lady Knights, highlighted an easy second-set victory for the seniors saying goodbye.
The third set brought plenty of opportunity for Saint Rose, but again they struggled with production, turning 38 attempts into only 11 kills.
Devic, who had been the offensive standout of the squad all year, had one of her more modest games this year. Even though she put up 19 points for the team, she converted on only 19 percent of her attack attempts, eight percent lower than her match average.
“My advice to younger players is to play as much as you can. Treat everytime you play as an opportunity to get better,” Devic said.
She added that she will miss her teammates and coaches the most when she leaves Saint Rose.
“The memories we have are something I will never forget,” Devic said.
Fellow seniors Salasky and Gundrum struggled as well, both posting below-average numbers.
The set was close, but it again resulted in a loss for Saint Rose, as the Warriors took a 2-1 set lead 25-23.
The Golden Knights gave it everything they had in the final set, but in the end it was more of the same.
They converted just 10 of 40 attack opportunities, with their two major hitters, Salasky and Devic, combining for just five kills on 21 attempts.
It was close, but the final set, and the final home game of five Saint Rose athletes, came to an end with the Golden Knights falling 25-22.
With two matches remaining, Saint Rose is still looking at a potential post-season bid, but Saturday’s certainly hurt their chances. With heads held high looking for a bounce-back win, Saint Rose will travel to Saint Anslem on Friday, Nov. 11 for the penultimate game of their 2016 season.
For more scheduling information and statistics on the Volleyball team and all other Saint Rose athletes, visit gogoldenknights.com.
