NEWTON, Mass. – Mount Ida came out of the gates strong in their Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) men's volleyball opener on Monday night at Mount Ida Athletic Center, but were unable to get past Johnson and Wales University, falling 3-0 to the Wildcats in the first conference game of the year for the Mustangs.
The Green and White played two tight first sets, but were nipped by scores of 25-19 and 25-22 before Johnson & Wales closed out the match with a convincing 25-11 third set victory.
Sophomore James Ames (West Hartford, Conn.) led Mount Ida with eight kills, while the Wildcats had two players with double-digit kills, set up by the 33 assists of junior J.J. Bessette (Coventry, R.I.).
Senior Shawn Kennedy (West Barnstable, Mass.) had 13 kills and junior Chris Espinola (Derry, N.H.) added 11 kills to lead Johnson & Wales.
Mount Ida opened the first game by taking a 10-7 lead, but two quick kills from Espinola gave the Wildcats a 12-11 lead. The game stayed close, with Mount Ida trailing 17-16 before Johnson & Wales scored four straight and six of the next seven points, with Espinola and Kennedy registering points to close the game.
It was the Mustangs that scored four straight points in the second game, which gave the home team a 14-11 lead, capped by a kill by senior Nick Melillo (Norwood, Mass.). The Wildcats answered with a 6-2 run to grab back a one-point lead, though an attacking error by Kennedy tied the game at 17.
Johnson & Wales would open up a two point margin (22-20) on kills by Kennedy and Aseah Thomas (St. Thomas, USVI) and used setting, attack, and service errors by the Mustangs to score their final three points of the set.
The third set belonged to the Wildcats, who hit .300 and raced out to a 7-1 lead thanks to six straight points served by Bessette that included three consecutive kills by Espinola.
Ahead 12-6, it was Thomas, who served three aces for JWU, doing the serving during an 8-0 run that put the set and the match firmly in the hands of the Wildcats.
Sophomore Jimmy Wessel (DeKalb, Ill.) led the Mustangs defensively with 13 digs, while Melillo assisted on three blocks and had two kills. On the setting end, Brady Rodriguez (Longwood, Fla.) and Michael McCullough (Southborough, Mass.) each handed out nine assists, with Rodriguez adding four kills.
For the Wildcats, Thomas pitched in with five kills and six digs, while Lupe Perez Valle (Bayamon, Puerto Rico) led the team with seven digs.
JWU sophomore Kyle Eva (Charlestown, R.I.) had five kills, a number matched by senior Nick Schibi (Torrington, Conn.) of the Mustangs.
Mount Ida has a difficult match on Thursday evening when they host GNAC foe Rivier, who is currently ranked as the #1 team in the nation.
They will have to wait their turn, however, as Johnson & Wales will host the Raiders first on Wednesday night at 7:00 PM in Providence,