Thursday, March 1, 2012 (Newton, Massachusetts) - Mount Ida College men's volleyball junior hitter Spencer Hastings (Orlando, FL/Timber Creak) tallied a team-high 12 kills on 38 attempts in a 3-0 non-league loss to visiting Daniel Webster College Thursday evening by scores of 18-25, 13-25 and 22-25.
The Eagles outdid the hosts offensively notching 36 total kills with the Mustangs only mustering 21 for the contest. Consistent errors by Mount Ida made it difficult to keep pace with the visitor leading to their demise.
Daniel Webster lead early in set one up 5-1 only to see the Mustangs creep closer down one cutting the advantage to 13-14. The visitors eventually capitalized on a plethora of Mount Ida mistakes cruising to the 25-18 win leading the match 1-0.
The Eagles jumped ahead to start game two up 14-5 helped by a continuous strain of host mistakes. The Mustangs had no answer for the visitors eventually surrendering a 25-13 loss to trail 2-0 in the contest.
Game three remained close for the bulk of the action with Daniel Webster edging their opponent 20-18 late in the set. Mount Ida was unable to keep pace with the visitors ultimately falling 25-22 closing out the 3-0 loss.
Adding to his solid individual performance offensively, Hastings added a team-high nine digs and two solo blocks. Sophomore hitter Nick Schibi (Torrington, CT/O. Wolcott Regional) chipped in four kills and six digs while junior defensive specialist Ricky Oliveira (New Bedford, MA/New Bedford) dished out nine assists with four digs. Senior Franklin McCaffrey (East Greenwich, RI/East Greenwich) notched two kills with six digs respectively.
The visiting Eagles saw a game-high 13 kills on 18 attempts with only two errors from freshman middle blocker Joel Hendrix (Keneohe, HI/James B. Castle). Senior hitter Chris Shannon (Ronkonkoma, NY/North Sachem) recorded 10 kills on 25 chances with only one mistake adding two service aces. Junior setter Kyle Clement (Weymouth, MA/Catholic Memorial) distributed a game-high 17 assists followed by eight kills and six digs from sophomore Joe Walz (East Longmeadow, MA/East Longmeadow).
Mount Ida drops their fifth in a row slumping to an overall record of 1-10 holding at 0-4 in Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) play. The Eagles improve to 4-3 for the 2012 season with a 2-3 record in the New England Collegiate Conference (NECC).
The Mustangs will travel to M.I.T. to compete in tournament play starting Saturday at 11:00 p.m. with their opponent to be announced while the visitors will have the weekend off and resume action Tuesday, March 6th at Endicott College with game time slated for 7:00 p.m.