Wednesday, February 23, 2011 (Newton, Massachusetts) – The Mount Ida College men's volleyball team dropped their seventh Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) match-up of the season falling 3-1 to visiting Emmanuel College Wednesday night by scores of 25-14, 25-22, and 25-16 in Newton, Massachusetts. The Mustangs bow to an overall record of 3-10 and drop to 1-7 in conference competition while the Saints continue to punish GNAC opponents with an overall record of 18-4 sitting in second place in league standings at 8-1.
Emmanuel jumped out to a 4-1 advantage in the opening of the match following a Mustang error. Mount Ida pulled within one point (4-3) after an impressive save by Mustang senior Shane Wilson (Gloucester, MA/Gloucester) that turned into a Ricky Oliveira (New Bedford, MA/New Bedford) kill. The visitors proceeded to power a 6-0 run taking a 10-3 advantage after two consecutive service aces by Saint senior Curtis Abram (San Luis Obispo, MA/San Luis Obispo). Mount Ida pulled within three points down 12-9 capped on a solo block by Mustang sophomore Spencer Hastings (Orlando, FL/Timber Creak). The visitors went on to mount a 13-5 run to finish off game one winning 25-14 up 1-0 in the match.
Mount Ida came out in game two taking a 7-6 lead after two consecutive kills by Hastings. The host advantage did not last very long while the visitors came back scoring the next three points up 9-8 following a solo block by sophomore Nick Updike (Manhattan Beach, CA/Mira Costa). Although the Mustangs tied the score at 9-9 after a solo block by Hastings, the Saints maintained a small lead up 17-13 after a Mount Ida error. The Mustangs pulled within one point after a service ace by Emmanuel trailing 20-19. The hosts kept it close within only two points separating the teams throughout the last couple of sets. But the visitors captured the 25-22 game two win on a solo block by senior Keoni Rabaino (Tucson, AZ/Catalina Foothills) to lead 2-0 in the match.
Game three was all about the Saints who went ahead 6-1 following another kill by Abram. The Mustangs cut the advantage down to four points trailing 10-6 after an error by the visitors. Emmanuel maintained their small margin following a 7-3 run to go ahead by 17-9 after a kill by senior Matt Salvi (Trumbull, CT/Trumbull). The Saints eventually closed out game three scoring eight out of 14 points capturing a 25-16 game three win good for a 3-0 GNAC match sweep.
Hastings led Mount Ida with 10 kills, five digs, and three total blocks while Belton notched eight kills, two digs, and three total blocks as well.
The Mustangs will travel to Bard College for a weekend tournament starting this coming Friday with their opponents to be announced.