The Mount Ida College men's volleyball team captured their first Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) victory over visiting Emerson College, 3-2, in their home opener by scores of 30-21, 30-23, 27-30, 25-30, and 15-13. The Mustangs improve to 2-4 overall, 1-1 in league play while the Lions fall to 0-3 and drop their second conference bid of the season (0-1).
The Mustangs jumped out to an immediate 6-2 advantage with a handful of errors from their opponents to help aid in the lead. The visitors closed the gap knotting the score at 8-8 after a receiving error by Mount Ida. After the score tied three times in the next couple of points with the Lions taking a 14-13 lead, the Mustangs composed themselves jumping back out 21-14 after an 8-0 run capped off on a freshman Spencer Hastings (Orlando, FL/Timber Creak) kill. Mount Ida continued to roll building their advantage with solid overall play and eventually capturing the game one victory with an exclamation service ace by Hastings for the final point winning 30-21 holding the 1-0 match lead.
Game two was a mirror of game one with the Mustangs stampeding out to an 8-3 advantage capped off after a Hastings kill. The visitors attempted to crawl back into it pulling within three points after a sophomore Steve Selnick (Cheshire, CT/Cheshire) kill trailing 11-8. The Mustangs proceeded to power up their offense pulling ahead by nine (19-10) after a Ross Florexil (Lake Worth, FL/Lake Worth) kill. The visitors scored the next five points with a couple of errors by the hosts to pull within four points down 19-15. Mount Ida kept their composure jumping ahead by nine (19-28) capped off on a Thomas Belton (Springfield, MA/Springfield Central) kill. The Mustangs went on to capture game two 30-23 and command a 2-0 match lead with the win.
The Lions came to play in game three keeping it close for opening of the set. Mount Ida held a small two point advantage after a Belton kill leading 12-10. The Mustangs kept the lead pulling ahead by six points on a Gagandeep Singh (Brighton, MA/John D. O'Bryant) kill up 24-18. This was where Emerson started their slow climb back into the game with all the momentum going their way. Numerous kills by the Lions, led by Selnick and company, along with a handful of Mustang errors, tied the score at 26-26. The visitors went on to score the final three points of the set taking the 30-27 game three win pulling within one game in the match at 2-1.
The momentum from game three apparently carried over to game four in the Lions favor. Although the Mustangs took an early 10-6 advantage after a Belton kill, the visitors would take a small lead, up 10-9, capped by a Selnick kill. After the score knotted numerous times, Mount Ida pulled ahead by four at 20-16 after another kill by Belton. Just like in game three, the visitors crawled back into it keeping pace with the Mustangs tying it up at 22-22 on a host error. They would go on and score the next four points taking a 26-22 advantage on another mistake by the Mustangs. Although the hosts attempted to pull back into the game, the visitors took over capturing the 30-25 game four win, knotting the match at 2-2.
The final game of the contest was an exciting one with Mount Ida falling behind quickly 6-4 after an error. The Mustangs pulled back into the match starting with a Hastings kill (9-7) scoring the next five points to gain the advantage up 11-9 after an Emerson error. The visitors tried to keep pace, but it wasn't enough while the Mustangs rode to their first GNAC victory of the season with a 15-13 game five win capturing the match 3-2.
Mount Ida was led by Hastings with 15 kills along with 14 kills from Belton and a team high 21 digs. Florexil chipped in two solo blocks and four block assists while Pinero added four service aces. Senior captain Shane Wilson (Gloucester, MA/Gloucester) added nine digs.
The Mustangs will travel to Albertus Magnus College for their third GNAC match-up of the season on Saturday starting at 1:00 p.m.