NEWTON, Mass. – In their penultimate home matches of the 2014 season, Mount Ida dropped a pair of games to Wentworth and Albertus Magnus in a Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) tri-match on Saturday afternoon at Mount Ida Athletic Center.
The Mustangs dropped a 3-1 decision to the Falcons to start the day, then fell in straight sets to the regionally ranked Leopards, who also took a 3-0 victory over Albertus Magnus.
Game 1: Albertus Magnus 3, Mount Ida 1
Sophomore James Ames (West Hartford, Conn.) tallied 14 kills and 11 digs to lead the Mustangs, who took the first set of the day 25-20, but then fell by scores of 25-22, 25-20, and 25-19.
The Falcons racked up 14 blocks, led by Raymond Torres (Cantano, Puerto Rico), who had two solo blocks and four assists, while also setting up 33 points and serving six aces in the victory.
Torres's countryman, Raul Rivera Rojas (Vega Baja, Puerto Rico) had 13 kills for Albertus.
Sophomore Michael McCullough (Westborough, Mass.) had three service aces for Mount Ida, while Jimmy Wessel (DeKalb, Ill.) had 10 digs and Brady Rodriguez (Longwood, Fla.) had a game-high 38 assists.
Senior Nick Schibi (Torrington, Conn.) and sophomore Dennis Miranda (Hialeah, Fla.) combined for 17 kills, with Miranda in on three block assists as well.
Game 2: Wentworth 3, Albertus Magnus 0
Jake Reed (Arvada, Colo.) had a game-high 9 kills for the Leopards, who took the straight set victory by scores of 25-14, 25-21, and 25-22.
Freshman setter Collin Ritter (Feeding Hills, Mass.) put up 36 assists, and freshman Alex Potts (Niverville, N.Y.) had one solo block and five block assists, part of a 13 block effort for Wentworth.
The Leopards hit .278 for the match, and got 8 kills from Brian Mann (East Freetown, Mass.) and seven kills apiece from Sam Pisker (Mullica Hill, N.J.) and Ross Burdett (Needham, Mass.).
Senior Douglas DeSousa (Danbury, Conn.) had a game-high 15 digs for the Falcons, who got another 27 assists from Torres.
Rojas added 12 more kills to his total on the day, while Brendan Charamut (Southington, Conn.) pitched in with 10 kills in the losing effort.
Game 3: Wentworth 3, Mount Ida 0
The Leopards hit .481 in the final match of the day, including a .636 hitting percentage in the second game, and rode a 10-kill performance from senior Mike Buonincontra (Shelton, Conn.) to the straight set victory (25-10, 25-8, 25-19).
Wentworth fired 13 service aces in the game, four of them from Burdett, who also had four digs. Mann pitched in five kills for the Leopards, who had nine different players record points and no player make more than one error.
Sophomore Bill Shimkus (Sudbury, Mass.) recorded 26 assists, while Pisker had three aces and combined with Potts on four of Wentworth's eight blocks.
Ames added five more kills to his tally and Rodriguez racked up 12 more assists and three service aces.
Miranda added four kills and Wessel led the Mustangs with five digs.
With the victory, Wentworth set a new record for wins in a season (21), which broke the record of 20 set in 2011 and then matched again last season.
Mount Ida (8-17, 2-10 GNAC) travels back to Boston, Mass. on Wednesday for a game against Emerson that was rescheduled from last week. The Mustangs and Lions will face off at 7:00 pm in GNAC action.
Wentworth returns to Newton Tuesday evening to face Lasell at 7:00 pm, while Albertus Magnus will be home to Anna Maria at the same time.