Wednesday, March 9, 2011 (Newton, Massachusetts) – For the second time this season the Mount Ida College men's volleyball team fell short to visiting Johnson & Wales University via the 3-0 sweep Wednesday evening by scores of 25-20, 25-15, and 25-21 in Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) play. The Mustangs drop their sixth straight and their ninth conference contest (2-9) of the season falling to an overall record of 6-17 while the visitors improve to 6-8 and to a conference slate of 3-4.
The visitors jumped ahead to a four point lead to start game one up 5-1 following some sloppy play by the Mustangs. Mount Ida came back tying the score at 9-9 after a sophomore Spencer Hastings (Orlando, FL/Timber Creak) kill. The Wildcats would follow powering an 11-3 run to pull away by nine points leading 20-11 after a kill by freshman Gerard Daniels (Miami, FL/Krop). The Mustangs pulled within four points down 23-19 after a service error by Johnson & Wales. The Wildcats would eventually solidify the 25-20 game one win to go ahead 1-0 in the match.
Mount Ida fell behind early by eight points down 9-1 after a couple of service aces by Wildcat senior Eric Minnich (Concord, MA/Concord). The visitors kept the Mustangs at arm's length throughout the rest of game two leading 17-8 after a couple of host errors along with a freshman Alex Viera (Bay Shore, NY/Bay Shore) kill. The visitors made it 20-9 following another kill, this time from Wildcat freshman Dan Struebing (Coventry RI/Coventry). Johnson & Wales would ultimately close out game two winning 25-15 on a last point kill by Minnich to go ahead 2-0 in the match.
The Mustangs fell behind 9-4 to start game three after multiple errors by the hosts. The Wildcats continued to pull away going up 20-14 following more errors by Mount Ida and the high powered offense of Johnson & Wales. The Mustangs made a valiant effort at a comeback pulling within three points down 23-20 after a kill by host senior Thomas Belton (Springfield, MA/Springfield Central). The visitors eventually rode out the final two points taking home a 25-21 game three win good for the 3-0 conference match sweep.
Belton led Mount Ida offensively with eight kills, three total blocks, and a dig while Hastings added six kills, three digs, and three solo blocks. Senior setter Shane Wilson (Gloucester, MA/Gloucester) dished out 19 assists and junior Franklin McCaffrey (East Greenwich, RI/East Greenwich) chipped in four kills.
The Mustangs will travel to M.I.T. this weekend for a tri-match with the Engineers and visiting Daniel Webster College.