Two years.
That’s all the time it took for Ana Todorovic to take command of the Mercy women’s volleyball program. The second year coach led the Mavericks to a historic regular season, winning 14 games and earning the No. 3 seed in this year’s conference tournament.
The 14 wins is a program-best since 2005; the last time they appeared in the ECC Championship game.
Success has followed Todorovic at every coaching stop she’s been at, and that hasn’t fluctuated since she arrived at Mercy a season ago. But for a coach with an immense amount of experience, she knows that you aren’t remembered for regular season wins.
You’re remembered by your trophy case.
Mercy is entering their fourth straight appearance in the postseason, coming up short in the semi final in each of the last three years. That empty feeling lingered through the walls of the Neil Judge Athletic Center all offseason, and now a team already loaded with All Conference talent has added an element of hunger to them.
The outstanding play has brought this squad right back to their final checkpoint from last season, but now it’s time to rewrite that script.
Todorovic and company will travel to top seed Daeman to face a Molloy Lions team that they have much familiarity with. The Mavs and the Lions met twice already this season, splitting with a win each.
The Mavericks beat the Lions 3-1 back in September in a game that featured a season-best 14 aces from the team.
Mercy will need another stellar performance from behind the service line to give themselves a great chance in this one, an area that Todorovic emphasizes on strongly.
It wasn’t the smoothest journey to reach this point, but rarely does a championship run feature zero speed bumps. Things started to go South towards the back stretch of October. The Mavs rode a four game losing skid and were on the cusp of missing the playoffs.
Sometimes it’s easy to let negative momentum continue to trickle down, but like any great team, they switched the direction of this ship. Fast.
Mercy responded with five straight victories to close out the regular season. A dominating finish, the Mavericks only lost one set in that span. After catching up with captain Larissa Schneid, it’s clear that their focus never altered through the muck of the losing streak.
“We realized that the year wasn’t over and it was up to us to fix it,” Schneid stated in the interview.
Larissa transferred to Mercy before the 2021 season and has been the catalyst behind the team’s achievements since. The two-time First Team ECC selection added another accolade to her already impressive resume when she was tabbed this season’s ECC Player of the Year.
Schneid has paired nicely with fellow transfer and All Conference selection, setter Yarianne Gonzalez, in their time together. The duo collided in Westchester after arriving from previous schools two seasons ago, and they have been quite the treat to watch since.
Gonzalez earned Setter of the Year in the ECC this season after tossing a conference best 9.90 assists per set. The conversation isn’t necessarily about who the best setter/hitter combo is in the conference anymore, you’re better off just debating who is second.
It’s the chemistry between these two that have turned them into the box office product that they are on the court, and if Mercy plans to advance to the championship game, they’re going to need another solid outing from the dyad.
“We were suitemates when we both got here, so we grew to be very close off the court,” admitted Schneid.
“Translating our connection off the court into our play just felt natural from the start.”
The Mavericks have felt heartbreak before, and don’t want to feel it again. A seasoned group with postseason experience under their belt will have an opportunity to change the result, but it all begins with believing in what they have.
“If we don’t have confidence in ourselves, we can’t expect other teams to respect us,” Schneid said convincingly.
So, what’s the key to a Maverick victory on Friday? The answer isn’t as sophisticated as we may be led to believe. It’s actually quite simple.
The Mavs need to have fun playing the game that they love.
When this team is enjoying themselves on the court, the rhythm in their play has simultaneously followed. Regardless of the belief inside their locker room, Mercy is playing with house money this weekend. Make no mistake. And that’s a great angle to attack this game with.
Despite the excellence we’ve seen from Mercy volleyball over the last few seasons, they haven’t appeared in the ECC Championship game in 18 years, and haven’t hoisted the trophy in 22 years.
There isn’t a legacy currently to fulfill here, these players are creating that themselves each day. Instead of being concerned with living up to those that came before them, they get to embark on that tradition in their own way.
With all of that going for them, it’s time for these ladies to sign their names into the program history books this weekend. They have all the tools in the place and now it’s time to go execute. But most importantly, the Mavs need to go enjoy the moment.
“I just want to have fun when I’m playing and leave no regret.”
Mercy takes on Molloy tomorrow night at 7:30pm.
