Elite 8: Assumption vs. Mercy

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>An elite quarterfinal match you don't get to see everyday, two private schools, Assumption and Mercy battled it out on November 3rd, 2022 at 7 PM. Assumption is 33-7 on the year with a perfect 10-0 district and 2-0 region record while Mercy is 28-12 with an also perfect district and region record of 9-0 and 6-0. Usually, you see these two teams fighting it out in the finals, but the bracket decided to give us this rivalry game a little early. The two times these squads played one another, Assumption won in five and four sets, and the whole gym was filled with competitive energy. Nonetheless, Assumption also pulled out this quarterfinal win but in three straight sets 25-19, 25-21, 25-13. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Mercy had 10 main players for their squad, and a whopping 8 of them were seniors except sophomore defensive specialist, [player_tooltip player_id='172954' first='Madisyn' last='Green'] and junior middle hitter, Jessica Gross. Senior leadership is a term I'm sure they heard substantially this season, and their skillful play just reflects their high-level knowledge of the game. Senior middle hitter, [player_tooltip player_id='106690' first='Meredith' last='Brown'], was a key for Mercy throughout the whole season where she ended with a hot 279 kills and averaged 2.54 kills a game with 82 total blocks on the year. In this quarter final game, Brown had 10 kills, 3 errors, and hit a .280. She was the beast in this matchup with her high percentage kill ratio on the 31s and 1s she ran in the middle. [player_tooltip player_id='106690' first='Meredith' last='Brown'] was a powerhouse and put everything out there for her last game ever in a Mercy jersey. Furthermore, seniors, [player_tooltip player_id='157440' first='Maddie' last='Hagan'] had 9 kills, [player_tooltip player_id='207240' first='Emma' last='Barnett'] finished with 4, and Cameron Downs added 3 kills. Senior libero, Aubrey Hennis, finished with 12 digs and 2 service aces which made her total number of digs on the year to 487. Hennis averaged 4.31 digs per year which is just clearly insane.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Then, Assumption, was just hot and heavy the entire night. They came to play, and you could tell because they fired from every cylinder. 5 out of 6 of their hitters hit over .400 in a three set matchup which just shows how talented each one of their attackers are. Sophomore, [player_tooltip player_id='172951' first='Bailey' last='Blair'], though, really came to play where she ended with 18 kills and just one error, hitting a .680. Assumption just set up a nice two ball for her, so she could bang away left or right, and you can see that it worked pretty well. Her energy and love for the game was simply contagious, and it was inspiring to watch for everyone in that gym. Plus, junior outside hitter Charlotte Moriarity ended with 13 kills and other junior outside hitter, [player_tooltip player_id='128186' first='Chloe' last='Smith'] had 10 kills. Senior right side hitter, [player_tooltip player_id='106670' first='Alexis' last='Strong'], lived up to her last name with some pretty awesome game play where she had 8 kills, 2 errors, and hit a .429. Strong was unstoppable hitting line on the right side, and I don't know if anyone can dig that kind of power in the state tournament. Well, maybe their own sophomore libero, Kirsten Simon, who ended with 15 digs on the night against Mercy. She was the starter of their fire offense and the true backbone of this team's success. Lastly, I can't forget senior setter, [player_tooltip player_id='106669' first='Whitney' last='Woodrow'] that set the ball so well tonight and rallied the offensive guns to victory. Woodrow is just insanely smooth from the setting position where she racked up 47 assists, 2 kills on 4 attempts, 7 digs, and 2 service aces. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Mercy and Assumption matchup is always a great game to watch because of their talented players and strong programs. For now though, catch Assumption play Notre Dame on Friday, November 3rd at 2pm in the state semifinals. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->