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91��Ƭ Heads to the NCAA Division II Women's Volleyball Championship

znegron@mercy.edu — Tue, 25 Nov 2025 19:20:15 +0000

91��Ƭ Heads to the NCAA Division II Women's Volleyball Championship znegron@mercy.edu Tue, 11/25/2025 - 14:20 91��Ƭ News Athletics

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The Mavericks secured their place after a remarkable 20–4 season and their first conference title in more than two decades.

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91��Ƭ’s women’s volleyball team has achieved a major milestone: the program has earned its eighth-ever spot in the NCAA Division II Championship. The Mavericks secured their place after a remarkable 20–4 season and their first conference title in more than two decades. It also marks the team’s third straight trip to the national tournament.

The road ahead begins at Bentley University, where all East Region games will be held. 91��Ƭ will open the tournament on Thursday, Dec. 4, at 11 a.m. against Molloy University. The Mavericks enter the matchup on a high note, having defeated Molloy three times this season, including a sweep in the conference championship final just days ago.

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Maverick Magazine Spring 2025: Mercy Link

jbailjr@mercy.edu — Mon, 07 Jul 2025 19:17:58 +0000

Maverick Magazine Spring 2025: Mercy Link jbailjr@mercy.edu Mon, 07/07/2025 - 15:17 Maverick Magazine 91��Ƭ News Alumni Athletics

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JOINING THE NETWORK

Mercy Link Opens New Paths to Career Success

Last fall, Mercy launched Mercy Link, a platform designed to connect Mercy students and alumni and help them navigate to their next (or first) career goal. It provides a powerful network of up to 100,000 alumni from both 91��Ƭ and the College of New Rochelle, giving the Mercy community another way to stay connected. Mercy Link was made possible by funding from Gioietta and Alberto Vitale HD ’09, longtime supporters of Mercy.

“Your people are your power,” said Lyn Leis, director of Career Education at Mercy. “Unlocking opportunities is so important for first-generation students who don’t come in with these inherited networks.” She added, “That’s daunting if you don’t know how to do it. We do that with Mercy Link.”

“A recent survey of Mercy alumni indicated a willingness to give back to students. Mercy’s Career & Professional Development team partnered with Advancement to make this experience relevant and impactful for students and alumni,” said Bernadette Wade CNR SAS ’80, vice president of Institutional Advancement. “This platform makes it easy and convenient to connect and have meaningful interactions with students.”

Mercy Link is similar to job networking platforms like LinkedIn, but it’s tailored specifically to the Mercy community to connect students with alumni. “The idea is that all the alumni who are opting in and creating an account on the platform are the ones who say, ‘I very much want to help students’,” explained Leis. “It’s not formal mentorship, it’s not a long-term or high-time commitment. Students can reach out through the platform and just ask questions.”

According to Forbes, 70–80% more jobs get filled than posted each year, which means there’s a hidden job market of people who are getting access to these positions through referrals and word-of-mouth. And with Glassdoor reporting that the average online job posting attracts an average of 250 applications, it’s easy to see that personal connections are crucial — they give jobseekers the ability to break through the noise.

The platform makes it easier for users to search for jobs with Mercy connections. It scrapes major job boards and displays only positions where Mercy alumni can offer insider knowledge. Before applying, students can connect with graduates who have knowledge or connections with target companies, industries or roles.

“Instead of millions of postings, students see 200 where alumni connections give them an edge,” Leis said. “A student can message an alumnus [connection] saying, ‘I found this job matching your background. Could you suggest cover letter points to help me stand out?’”

Internship connections take center stage with Mercy Link. “Alumni refer students to openings they know about or post opportunities directly from their own organizations,” Leis emphasized. These internships build confidence, expand networks and create competitive advantages after graduation.

Mercy Link also helps naturally develop strategic networking skills. The platform’s artificial intelligence (AI) feature guides message drafting, flagging casual language and suggesting more professional alternatives. If someone uses slang or other informal language, Mercy Link will suggest it’s not the right tone for that particular message.

“One of my favorite feedback notes pops up if a student writes ‘job’ or ‘internship’ in their first message. It will remind the student that they need to make a connection with someone before they ask for referrals, and then it makes connections easy,” Leis shared. “The platform reminds them: build relationships first, discuss opportunities later. Share your interests but focus on learning from alumni experiences.”

Beyond jobs and internships, Mercy Link aims to provide lifelong career support for students and alumni. “Alumni give back by helping students while growing professionally themselves,” Leis said.

Those seeking career changes post-graduation can tap into peer networks based on industry experience, identity or shared interests. “They find fellow veterans, athletes, Spanish speakers — whatever connects them,” Leis explains. “So, there’s a way for them to connect around shared experiences, which is so impactful.”

Mercy Link also allows for the creation of groups where students and alumni can engage in more public conversations with each other, making more informal connections, which has been a recent business trend. “Traditional mentorship programs struggle because monthly commitments overwhelm people,” Leis notes. “We ask alumni to share guidance when they can. This approach naturally builds student confidence and understanding of the field they’re interested in.”

“Mercy’s community is so special, and one of the things I’ve noticed is that there’s such a unique desire to help each other out,” Leis said. “Current students are helping each other along their job search from day one, and so we’re hoping to leverage that and either engage alumni in new ways or engage new alumni.”

Mercy Link strengthens bonds between current students and alumni. “We build student career confidence through alumni connections,” Leis shared. “They learn industry specifics, secure valuable internships and launch careers in chosen fields. The power of this network will transform how our community supports each other’s success.”

Alumni and students can join the community at mercylink.mercy.edu or through the PeopleGrove mobile app.

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Ryan MacSpadyen Comes Full Circle as Men’s Lacrosse Head Coach

jbailjr@mercy.edu — Mon, 29 Jul 2024 14:15:03 +0000

Ryan MacSpadyen Comes Full Circle as Men’s Lacrosse Head Coach jbailjr@mercy.edu Mon, 07/29/2024 - 10:15 Maverick Magazine 91��Ƭ News Alumni Athletics

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Former Student-Athlete

Ryan MacSpadyen Comes Full Circle as Men’s Lacrosse Head Coach

Ryan MacSpadyen, ’19, M.S. ’21, is something of a men’s lacrosse legend at 91��Ƭ. His time as a student-athlete was marked by blazing performances on the field along with honors and awards for scholarship. 

Now the Mercy alumnus has come full circle. MacSpadyen recently completed his second season as head coach of the Mercy Men’s Lacrosse Team. His journey from lacrosse wunderkind to head coach and assistant director of athletics at his alma mater reflects his passion for the sport, his commitment to the next generation of student-athletes and his desire to give back to the institution that played a pivotal role in shaping his character and his career trajectory.

Raised in Toronto, Ontario, a Canadian province where “everyone played hockey all winter and lacrosse, or ‘road hockey,’ all summer,” MacSpadyen remembers
his dad cutting down one of his own full-size hockey sticks so the boy could begin playing both sports at the age of 5. As a teenager, MacSpadyen played in a junior league, where his coach, Joe Corace, happened to be the former college roommate of Mercy’s legendary coach Jordan Levine. Levine spoke highly of Mercy, with its leafy green campus less than an hour from New York City.

“Growing up in Toronto, I always enjoyed the liveliness of being near a city,” MacSpadyen recalled. “The combination of a small campus near a big city really appealed to me.” MacSpadyen felt the spark of a new goal. With Levine’s encouragement, he enrolled at Mercy on a lacrosse scholarship, drawn in by the strong academic programs and promising lacrosse culture. After graduating with a bachelor’s degree in 2019 and a master’s in 2021, MacSpadyen was drafted by the National Lacrosse League’s Georgia Swarm, another first for Mercy’s Lacrosse program.

Yet MacSpadyen never strayed far from his goal to mentor the next generation of athletes. His journey led him back to Mercy, where he was hired as an assistant men’s lacrosse coach while earning his master’s degree.  Working with his revered mentor Levine for two seasons prepared him for the next step: When Levine left Mercy, MacSpadyen was tapped to succeed him as head coach.

True to form, he saw it as an opportunity to give back the guidance and support he had experienced. MacSpadyen dedicated himself to fostering a culture of excellence that reflected the values he’d absorbed. In his first year as head coach, he led the Mavericks to their fourth straight East Coast Conference (ECC) Championship, netting him honors as ECC Coach of the Year. This year, the team made it to the NCAA Division II Men’s Lacrosse Championship Quarterfinals.

MacSpadyen credits his Mercy education for providing him with the foundation to succeed both on and off the field. He credits the invaluable guidance from mentors — professors as well as coaches. “Simple concepts, like working hard, doing the right thing when nobody’s watching — they drilled that into us,” MacSpadyen said. “At Mercy I learned the right way to respond when things don’t go your way. That has molded me into what I am today.”;

Beyond the wins and losses, MacSpadyen prioritizes the well-rounded development of his players, encouraging them to excel academically, personally and athletically. His philosophy applies just as well to performance on the field as in the classroom — and in life. “Whether you win or lose, the lessons you learn from each season in the sport are applicable to real life,” he said. “It’s the same with being a student. You don’t know how much of your education will help you until you enter the workforce and start pulling out those lessons that apply to your life situation.”

He added, “It’s the best part of being a student-athlete: You are learning more than you realize.”

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