MARCY, N.Y. – Mount Ida scored a five-set victory over Bard in the nightcap of their 2014 opening double-header, earning a split of their first day at the SUNYIT Men's Volleyball Invitational.

The Mustangs (1-1) played an errorless fifth set to hold off the Raptors after dropping­ a tough 3-0 decision to the host Wildcats in their opening game.

Against Bard, Mount Ida came back from a first set loss to take a 2-1 lead and then edged out a victory by scores of 22-25, 25-21, 25-23, 22-25, 15-13.

Sophomore James Ames (West Hartford, Conn.) had 16 kills, five digs and a service ace, while Brady Rodriguez (Longwood, Fla.) racked up 43 assists as the setter.

The Mustangs had four players record double-digit kills, as Dennis Miranda (Hialeah, Fla.) and Nick Schibi (Torrington, Conn.) each had eleven.

Senior Nick Melillo (North Haven, Conn.) was on point as well, killing ten balls and making just three errors on 19 attempts, good for a .368 hitting percentage, while also picking up three solo blocks.

For the Raptors, Billy Williams (Livingston, N.J.) led all players with 18 kills in the tightly contested match.

Schibi had eight kills in the opening match of the tournament, where SUNYIT was too much for Mount Ida, winning by scores of 25-13, 25-19, 25-16.

Sophomore Michael McCullough (Southborough, Mass.) took his turn as the setter and set up 17 points for the Mustangs, while Jimmy Wessel (DeKalb, Ill.) began his night with five digs, and tallied seven more in the five-set win.

The Mustangs are now re-seeded into the Gold Bracket, which will feature the other two teams that split their day one matches. Saturday will see Mount Ida face Hilbert at 10:00 AM before closing out their tournament with a match against Elms at noon.

The complete tournament page is available here: 

SUNY IT Wildcat Men's Volleyball Invitational