NEWTON, Mass. – Mount Ida College led 23-22 in the third set of their Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) mens volleyball matchup on Thursday night against Rivier University, currently ranked #4 in the nation. The Raiders, however, scored the next three points to close the door on a 3-0 victory, after winning the first two sets by scores of 25-13 and 25-19. The Mustangs have now dropped their first two GNAC contests of the year (5-8 overall), while Rivier improves to 11-3 (4-0 GNAC). Senior Nick Schibi (Torrington, Conn.) led Mount Ida with eight kills, while sophomore James Ames (West Hartford, Conn.) turned in a five kill, five dig performance, while recording one of the Mustangs three service aces. Led by junior Matt Tutino (Manorville, N.Y.), who racked up 11 kills without an error (.786 hitting percentage), Rivier registered 42 kills in the match, hitting .411, including .562 in the first set, which they seized control of by scoring five straight and eleven of the first fifteen points. They opened up their biggest lead, 19-8 and sealed the victory on a kill by senior Daniel Elitharp (Eastport, N.Y.), who had eight in the contest. The second set was a tighter affair, with Mount Ida forcing six ties of the game and hitting .296, for their best attacking game of the night. Knotted at 13 apiece, Rivier got kills from Tutino and Matthew Ortiz (Los Angeles, Calif.) and a service ace from Ian Wolski (Westfield, Mass.), one of six for the Raiders in the game, to spark a 6-0 run. Elitharp converted two kills and Mike Hadder (Yucalpa, Calif.) finished the game off with a point of his own for the 25-19 score. The Mustangs used a kill by Schibi to jump out to a 3-0 lead in the third set, though Rivier would pull back into the lead with scores of 7-5 and 14-10. A 4-0 run allowed Mount Ida to tie the game at 17, and the Mustangs continued to fight back points to tie the game, not getting their noses in front until a rotation error by the Raiders gave them a 23-22 advantage. Looking to force a fourth set, the Mustangs surrendered the serve on an error by Brady Rodriguez (Longwood, Fla.), then saw Hadder serve an ace and Kegan Moody (Cranston, R.I.) convert a kill to end the game. Michael McCullough (Soutborough, Mass.) set up 12 points for Mount Ida, while Rodriguez had nine assists to go with six kills. The Raiders split setting duties as well, with freshman Matt LaSance (Madison, Conn.) collecting 16 assists and Ortiz adding 12 assists. Elitharp had a team-high nine digs and hit .800, making no errors on ten attempts. Mount Ida will host a tri-match this Saturday at Mount Ida Athletic Center, welcoming in Lehman College and Newbury College. The Mustangs face Lehman at 10:00 AM and then, after a neutral site match between the schools, take on the Nighthawks at 2:00 PM. Rivier returns home for a tri-match of their own this weekend, when they will face GNAC rival Albertus Magnus and non-conference foe Daniel Webster. NEWTON, Mass. – Mount Ida collected a 3-0 victory over Lehman College on Saturday as part of a non-conference mens volleyball tri-match at Mount Ida Athletic Center. The Mustangs (6-9) defeated the Lightning by scores of 25-19, 25-18, and 25-18 in the morning match before falling in four sets to Newbury College in the final game of the day. That first match saw Mount Ida hit .426 as a team, racking up 50 kills and making just ten errors on 94 attempts. Senior Nick Schibi (Torrington, Conn.) had a game-high 15 kills, while Dennis Miranda (Hialeah, Fla.) added 11 kills. Sophomore Brady Rodriguez (Longwood, Fla.) had a strong day both hitting, where he killed 12 balls, and setting, where he picked up 19 assists. That effort was paired with one from sophomore Michael McCullough (Southborough, Mass.), who had 26 assists, just three off of his career high set earlier this season against Saint Josephs of Brooklyn. Senior Nick Melillo (North Haven, Conn.) had eight kills, and he and Schibi each made just one error on a combined 35 attacking attempts. Sophomore Jaleel Lino (Bronx, N.Y.) led the Lightning (5-9) with 12 kills, while Roberto Perez (Bronx, N.Y.) had 23 assists in the losing effort. McCullough had 12 digs for Mount Ida, and Lino led the visitors with 10 digs. Lehman junior Miguel Gallardo (Bronx, N.Y.) had seven kills, six digs and two service aces. Against the Nighthawks (3-14), Mount Ida dropped the opening set 26-16, but fought back to even the match with a 25-21 victory. Newbury emphatically put themselves in a strong position by taking the third set 25-10 before closing the match with a 25-19 win in game number four. Chi Yin Li (Framingham, Mass.) had a strong day for the Nighthawks, hitting .333 and killing 16 balls while leading all players with 13 digs and serving three aces. Patrick Robidoux (Barrington, R.I.) had 24 assists and five kills of his own, and Jake Powell (Salinas, Calif.) added eight kills and 10 digs. The Mustangs were led by ten kills from Rodriguez, who added 12 assists, to go with 14 from McCullough. Miranda and Schibi each had six kills, but Mount Ida made 31 attacking errors and missed 18 serves. In the netural game, Newbury scored a 3-0 win over Lehman (25-15, 25-17, 25-20). Li handled the setting duties for the Nighthawks, setting up 34 points, while Powell and Billy Stephen (Windermere, Fla.) each had ten kills and Robidoux led the team with 11 digs. Lino led the Lightning with 17 kills in game two, and Perez put up 24 assists. Mount Ida returns to Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) action on Tuesday evening when they host Anna Maria for a 6:00 pm match.
Posted on: Tue, 04 Mar 2014 03:35:49 +0000
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