Saturday, February 17, 2013 (Weston, Massachusetts) - The Mount Ida College men's volleyball team snapped a three game losing skid with a 3-1 victory Saturday afternoon over hosting Regis College (MA) winning by scores of 25-15, 25-17, 20-25, 25-22 in the opening game of a non-conference tri-match. The Mustangs would eventually fall in their final frame of the afternoon against visiting Southern Vermont College in a 3-0 loss by scores of 25-6, 25-13, 25-9 in another non-league match-up.
Mount Ida (4-6, 0-1 GNAC) will have most of the week off heading to Johnson & Wales University next Saturday to face the Wildcats for the second time this season in Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) action starting at 1:00 p.m. The Mustangs hosted JWU back on February 13, 2013 falling in a 3-0 sweep.
Senior outside hitter and Captain Spencer Hastings (Orlando, FL/Timber Creak) led Mount Ida for the day offensively notching eight kills against the Pride and a match-high 15 kills in the loss against the Mountaineers.
After dropping the opening set 25-15, the Pride responded in game two by taking an early 9-5 lead following a Joe Coye (Plaistow, NH) kill. Three-straight errors by the Mustangs helped give the Pride a 14-8 lead before the Mustangs went on a 5-0 run of their own, including three kills Hastings, to make it a 14-13 game and force a Regis timeout. Back-to-back errors by the Pride gave the Mustangs a 16-15 lead and Mount Ida never looked back, finishing the game on an 8-2 run to win the second set, 25-17.
The Pride raced out to an early 8-4 lead in the third set following a kill from Alex Caliendo (Windsor, CT), but the Mustangs would not be deterred as a Ryan Furlow (Milford, CT) kill made it an 11-9 game. The teams traded possessions and after a passing error by Mount Ida, the Mustangs were forced to call a timeout trailing 18-16. Regis kept the Mustangs at bay on a pair of kills from Coye and his service ace sealed game three, 25-20.
Mount Ida was the aggressor in the fourth set as they jumped out to an early 5-2 lead. The Pride battled back into the contest and tied it at 11-all following a Dave Amicangioli (Belmont, MA) service ace and a passing error by the Mustangs. Mount Ida scored five of the next six points to stretch its lead out to 16-12 and the teams traded points until another Amicangioli service ace made it a one point deficit at 21-20. Joe Coye made it a 22-21 game with his 11th kill of the contest, but the Mustangs took advantage of several Pride errors down the stretch to hang on for the 25-22 win.
Coye posted a game-high 11 kills and added three service aces, eight digs, and four blocks. Dave Amicangioli handed out 15 assists and added 12 digs, while Alex Caliendo posted three kills and seven digs.
The Mustangs were led by nine kills from Nick Melillo (North Haven, CT/North Haven). Freshman setter Brady Rodriguez (Longwood, FL/Bishop Moore) dished out a game-high 29 assists and added seven digs, while Ricky Oliveira (New Bedford, MA/New Bedford) posted a team-best 10 digs.
In the second match of the day, the Mountaineers of Southern Vermont College were the victors over Mount Ida, 3-0 after set scores of 25-17, 25-22, and 25-18.
Along with 15 kills for Hastings in the loss to SVC, Mount Ida saw freshman middle blocker Justin Rhoden (Corona, CA/Corona Centennial) with 11 kills on 22 attempts with only two errors. Rodriguez was impressive dishing out 38 assists while Melillo notched seven digs.
Some Content Courtesy of Regis College (MA) Sports Information