Tuesday, February 28, 2012 (Newton, Massachusetts) - The Mount Ida College men's volleyball team was ousted by neighboring Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) visiting rival Lasell College in a 3-0 sweep Tuesday evening in Newton, Massachusetts by scores of 9-25, 15-25 and 14-25.
The Mustangs had trouble containing the Laser offense compiling multiple errors in the process to their injury ridden roster with sophomore Nick Schibi (Torrington, CT/O. Wolcott Regional) fighting the flu and senior hitter McCoy Arnoux (Brockton, MA/Brockton) sidelined with an ankle sprain.
Mount Ida drops their fourth straight contest after their first victory over non-league Lesley University back on February 22, 2012. They fall to an overall record of 1-9 with a GNAC slate of 0-4 while visiting Lasell improves to 5-5 for the year and capture their first league bid of the season standing at 1-3.
The visitors led all the way from the start in set one handing the hosts a 25-9 loss. Game two saw the Lasers go ahead 12-4 never looking back closing out the 25-15 win. Mount Ida kept it close in set three but ultimately fell after multiple errors down the stretch falling25-14 for the 3-0 sweep.
The Mustangs were led by junior hitter Spencer Hastings (Orlando, FL/Timber Creak) offensively with seven kills on 25 attempts and a team-high four digs. Senior hitter Franklin McCaffrey (East Greenwich, RI/East Greenwich) chipped in three kills on 12 attempts while junior setter Ricky Oliveira (New Bedford, MA/New Bedford) dished out 14 assists. Sophomore's Ryan Furlow (Milford, CT/Joseph A. Foran), Nick Melillo (North Haven, CT/North Haven) and Schibi all added two kills each.
The visitors saw a game high nine kills on 17 attempts with only two errors by sophomore hitter Tim Anderson (Plaistow, NH/Timberlane). Sophomore middle Matt Dione (Danville, NH/Timberlane) chipped in eight kills with only one error adding two solo blocks as well. Freshman setter Matt Dugan (New Lenox, IL/Lincoln-Way) distributed 20 assists while junior Alex Mill (Danville, NH/Timberlane) notched nine digs and seven kills.
Mount Ida will revisit action Thursday evening with a home contest against visiting non-league Daniel Webster College with game time slated for 6:00 p.m. The Lasers will host non-conference Regis College (MA) tomorrow evening with the start coming at 7:00 p.m.