The Mount Ida College men's volleyball team notched their second consecutive victory and their first Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) win in the Northeast Collegiate Volleyball Association (NECVA) over Emerson College 3-2 (30-28, 30-24, 31-33, 26-30, 15-8). The Mustangs improve to 2-3 overall and 1-1 in the GNAC while the visitors drop to 2-2, 1-3 in division play.
The Lions came out hot in the opening of game one commanding an 8-1 advantage capped off after a Mustang error. The hosts battled back cutting the lead to four points on consecutive errors by the visitors and a couple of kills by sophomore Thomas Belton (Springfield, MA/Springfield Central) trailing 10-6. Emerson held a marginal advantage, up by eight points on a service ace by freshman Steve Selnick (Cheshire, CT/Cheshire) leading 20-12. Just when it looked like the Lions would pull away to take an early lead, the Mustangs came charging back going on a 12-4 run knotting the score at 27-27 after another Belton kill. Mount Ida scored three out of the next four combined points taking the game one victory (30-28) and the 1-0 match lead.
Game two was back and forth in the opening with the visitors leading by three up 9-6. The score knotted five times through the next eight points with Mount Ida eventually holding a steady 20-18 lead after an Emerson error and a solo block by Belton. The Mustangs scored the next three points after a McMenamin kill and a tandem block by freshmen Franklin McCaffrey (East Greenwich, RI/East Greenwich) and McCoy Arnoux (Brockton, MA/Brockton) ahead 21-18. The hosts held a small three point advantage up until the 27-24 mark after a blocking error by the Mustangs. Junior Shane Wilson (Gloucester, MA/Gloucester) notched two huge points for the hosts at the end eventually leading Mount Ida to a game two victory (30-24) up 2-0 in the match.
It was very close in game three with both teams exchanging points and Emerson holding a two point advantage up 10-8 after a big block. Following a tie score at 12-12, the Mustangs commanded an 18-14 lead after a McCaffrey kill. It remained very close each team going point for point down to the wire and knotting eight times before the end of the set. Mount Ida had trouble communicating which led to numerous errors and more Emerson points. But the Lions also had their fair share of problems keeping the Mustangs in the hunt for the shutout. Eventually the visitors notched the final two points of game three on a kill and a hitting error by the hosts. Emerson captured the game three win (33-31) making it a 2-1 match in favor of Mount Ida.
The Mustangs buried themselves in an early hole at the beginning of game four trailing 6-1 after a Belton hitting error. Mount Ida cut the advantage to a deuce down 11-9 after a receiving error by the visitors. The score was close with the squads exchanging points until the Lions edged a 20-18 lead after a Mustang receiving error by McCaffrey. The hosts began to compose themselves, helped by a couple of Lions errors to cut the lead to two at 25-23. Unfortunately for Mount Ida, the visitors took over harnessing the 30-26 game four win tying the match at 2-2.
The Mustangs powered up in the final game leading 7-2 after a double hit by the Lions. Mount Ida started to feel the momentum going on a 5-0 run with four huge points by Belton off two blocks and two key kills. McMenamin hammered the final point of game five to capture the 15-8 victory. The Mustangs rode to their second win of the season and their first GNAC victory of the season.
The Mustangs were led by Belton with 28 kills and 15 digs while McMenamin notched 11 kills, 16 digs, and three service aces.
The Lions saw outstanding performances from freshman Jeff Ackerstein (Newton, MA/Newton South) with 23 digs and 15 kills. Sophomore Evan Ong (Pasadena, CA/St. Francis) tallied 20 digs while Frank O'Sullivan (Ottawa, Ontario/E.S.P. De La Salle) hammered 16 kills.
The Mustangs will host Albertus Magnus College this coming Sunday afternoon starting at 1:00 p.m.