NEWTON, Mass. – Mount Ida collected a 3-0 victory over Lehman College on Saturday as part of a non-conference men's volleyball tri-match at Mount Ida Athletic Center.
The Mustangs (6-9) defeated the Lightning by scores of 25-19, 25-18, and 25-18 in the morning match before falling in four sets to Newbury College in the final game of the day.
That first match saw Mount Ida hit .426 as a team, racking up 50 kills and making just ten errors on 94 attempts. Senior Nick Schibi (Torrington, Conn.) had a game-high 15 kills, while Dennis Miranda (Hialeah, Fla.) added 11 kills.
Sophomore Brady Rodriguez (Longwood, Fla.) had a strong day both hitting, where he killed 12 balls, and setting, where he picked up 19 assists. That effort was paired with one from sophomore Michael McCullough (Southborough, Mass.), who had 26 assists, just three off of his career high set earlier this season against Saint Joseph's of Brooklyn.
Senior Nick Melillo (North Haven, Conn.) had eight kills, and he and Schibi each made just one error on a combined 35 attacking attempts.
Sophomore Jaleel Lino (Bronx, N.Y.) led the Lightning (5-9) with 12 kills, while Roberto Perez (Bronx, N.Y.) had 23 assists in the losing effort.
McCullough had 12 digs for Mount Ida, and Lino led the visitors with 10 digs. Lehman junior Miguel Gallardo (Bronx, N.Y.) had seven kills, six digs and two service aces.
Against the Nighthawks (3-14), Mount Ida dropped the opening set 26-16, but fought back to even the match with a 25-21 victory. Newbury emphatically put themselves in a strong position by taking the third set 25-10 before closing the match with a 25-19 win in game number four.
Chi Yin Li (Framingham, Mass.) had a strong day for the Nighthawks, hitting .333 and killing 16 balls while leading all players with 13 digs and serving three aces. Patrick Robidoux (Barrington, R.I.) had 24 assists and five kills of his own, and Jake Powell (Salinas, Calif.) added eight kills and 10 digs.
The Mustangs were led by ten kills from Rodriguez, who added 12 assists, to go with 14 from McCullough. Miranda and Schibi each had six kills, but Mount Ida made 31 attacking errors and missed 18 serves.
In the netural game, Newbury scored a 3-0 win over Lehman (25-15, 25-17, 25-20). Li handled the setting duties for the Nighthawks, setting up 34 points, while Powell and Billy Stephen (Windermere, Fla.) each had ten kills and Robidoux led the team with 11 digs.
Lino led the Lightning with 17 kills in game two, and Perez put up 24 assists.
Mount Ida returns to Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) action on Tuesday evening when they host Anna Maria for a 6:00 pm match.