NASHUA, N.H. – In their final outing before Spring Break, Mount Ida College suffered a pair of 3-0 defeats to Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) foes, falling to both Wentworth and host Rivier in a men's volleyball tri-match on Saturday afternoon at Muldoon Gymnasium.
Game One: Wentworth 3, Mount Ida 0 (25-14, 25-20, 25-19)
Mount Ida got a game-high 12 kills and a .409 hitting percentage from Peter Griffenkranz (Deer Park, N.Y.), but saw Wentworth hit .421 and .393 in each of the first two sets to roll to the conference victory.
Jimmy Wessel (DeKalb, Ill.) had 17 assists and freshman TJ Nicholas (Shelton, Conn.) added six kills and five service aces, along with a block and five digs.
Senior James Ames (W. Hartford, Conn.) was the only other Mustang with multiple kills, as he had a pair of points and a team-high six digs.
The Leopards used their entire roster, and as a result ten different players registered kills in the match. Sean Mullen (Longwood, Fla.) led the way with six, while Jake Reed and Mike Hansen (Rochester, N.Y.) pounded five kills apiece. Kevin McPeek (Bethlehem, Pa.) led the way for the offense with 20 assists and two service aces, and Mike Rogachefsky (Rochester, N.Y.) added nine digs for Wentworth.
Game Two: Rivier 3, Mount Ida 0 (25-19, 25-15, 25-21)
After falling to Wentworth 3-1 earlier in the day, the host Raiders earned a sweep of the Mustangs despite a double-double from Ames (10 kills and 10 digs) and another 10 kills from Griffenkranz. Wessel notched 23 assists this time, and Tyler Shinkle (West Deptford, N.J.) added five digs and a solo block in the loss.
Rivier, who hit .567 with 18 kills and just one error in the second set, were led by nine kills from Nathan Kunkel (Plum Borough, Pa.) and eight apiece out of Khaynen Yocca (Pittsburgh, Pa.) and Garrett Bucklin (Jamestown, R.I.), who also recorded a team-high ten digs, two service aces and two blocks. Yocca was in on six blocks and served five of the Raider's ten aces. Matt LaSance (Madison, Conn.) notched 33 assists in the win.
After resting and recharging, the Mustangs (6-13, 1-4 GNAC) will return with four straight home games, beginning March 15th when Emerson comes to town for a 6:00 pm conference affair.