NEWTON, Mass. – Mount Ida opened their Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) men's volleyball schedule with their first home game of the year but dropped a 3-0 decision to Emerson College on Tuesday evening at Mount Ida Athletic Center.
The Mustangs (1-5, 0-1 GNAC) kept the first set close before falling 25-20, but watched Emerson (2-2, 1-0 GNAC) pull away late in the second set for a 25-18 win before racing to a 25-10 third set victory to close out the match.
James Ames (W. Hartford, Conn.) had nine kills to lead Mount Ida, while senior Connor Burton (Valencia, Calif.) and junior Jackson Wiley (Los Angeles, Calif.) piled up ten kills apiece to pace the Lions.
After falling behind 5-1 to start the first set, the Mustangs rallied and took an 8-7 lead on a kill by Dennis Miranda (Havana, Cuba), who finished the game with seven kills. The game remained tied at 10, 11, 12, and 13 before a 6-1 run, served by Brendan McGonigle (Los Angeles, Calif.) opened up a 19-14 lead for the visitors. They took advantage of 11 Mustang errors and used kills by Burton and Nick Rusk (Weston, Fla.) to seal the 25-20 victory.
The second set was back and forth from the very beginning, with no team gaining a two point advantage until a kill by Wiley put the Lions up 17-15. The teams traded points again, but Emerson ended the game with a 6-1 run after winning five straight points to seize the momentum in the game and the match.
Ames stroked a kill to open the third set, but with the game tied at two, Burton picked up a kill and then served five straight points in which the Mustangs attack miscued. The Emerson lead reached double-digits at 16-5 and the Lions took an 18-10 game and scored the final seven points in succession.
Mount Ida junior Jimmy Wessel (DeKalb, Ill.) accumulated 21 assists, while his counterpart, McGonigle, set up 26 points and served one of Emerson's two aces, with the other coming from Burton.
Wessel also picked up 12 digs, while sophomore Peter Griffenkranz (Deer Park, N.Y.) tallied eight digs and a pair of kills for Mount Ida.
Emerson freshman Stig Regan (Kailua, Hawaii) had a pair of solo blocks on back to back points in the second set, and also had three digs and three kills. Rusk finished the game with six kills and seven digs, while Ben Hillman (South Pasadena, Calif.) and Jared Gross (Wexford, Pa.) led Emerson with eight digs apiece.
The Mustangs continue a three-game home-stand on Thursday when they host non-conference foe Newbury College at 3:30 pm, part of a doubleheader at Mount Ida Athletic Center when it is followed by women's basketball vs Johnson & Wales at 6:00 pm.
The Lions will continue conference play at 6:00 pm on Thursday when they host Wentworth at 6:00 pm in a battle of GNAC associate members.