New Haven, Conn. – The Mount Ida College men's volleyball team defeated Albertus Magnus College 3-1 on Saturday en route to a split of their Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) tri-match at The Nest inside the Cosgrove Marcus Messer Athletic Center to end the 2016 season.
The Mustangs topped the Falcons in their first match of the day before falling 3-0 to Rivier to finish their season at 8-23 (2-12 GNAC).
The Raiders also netted a 3-0 triumph over Albertus Magnus, who fall to 5-16, (0-14 GNAC), with Rivier moving to 20-10 and 10-4 in the conference ahead of their postseason appearance.
Game One – Mount Ida 3, Albertus Magnus 1
Mount Ida scored a 31-29, 20-25, 25-20 and 25-15 win to spoil Senior Day for the Falcons. As a team, the Mustangs recorded 55 kills, dished out 50 assists, registered 44 digs and four blocks. On the opposite side, Albertus Magnus had 35 kills, 30 assists, 43 digs and six blocks.
Junior outside hitter Peter Griffenkranz (Deer Park, N.Y.) registered a career-high 24 kills thanks to a .268 attack percentage. Two other Mustangs recorded double-digit kill totals as freshman Tyler Shinkle (West Deptford, N.J.) and senior James Ames (W. Hartford, Conn.) added 10 and 14 kills, respectively.
Senior setter Jimmy Wessel (DeKalb, Ill.) did a good job of distributing the ball in the middle, registering 44 assists. Defensively, Wessel had a match-high 16 digs and Griffenkranz added 11 of his own.
Leading the charge for the Falcons offensively was senior outside hitter Justin Tharau (Burlington, Conn.) with 16 kills, while junior middle hitter Josh Turner (Trumbull,Conn.) added nine of his own. Senior Ben Spilka (Redding, Conn.) contributed six kills and freshman setter Jeremy Ortiz (Bridgeport, Conn.) racked up 24 assists. Defensively, Tharau had 11 digs, while Ortiz and Spilka had 10 and nine digs, respectively. At the net, Turner contributed a game-best four blocks.
Game Two – Rivier 3, Mount Ida 0
The Raiders took the first set 25-13, then held off Mount Ida by two identical scores of 25-23 for the three-set sweep.
Ames finished off his Mount Ida career with a 14-dig performance, while Griffenkranz added toen more kills and completed his year with a double-double thanks to 15 digs. TJ Nicholas (Shelton, Conn.) posted three kills and a .400 hitting percentage, while Wessel put up 30 assists and served Mount Ida's only ace of the match.
The Raiders were led by 13 kills from Matt Heckler (Simi Valley, Calif.) and 10 kills from Dashaun Graham (Highland Falls, N.Y.), set up by the 37 assists of Matt Lasance (Madison, Conn.), who also had two aces and two block assists.
Game Three – Rivier 3, Albertus Magnus 0
Rivier topped the host Falcons, 25-8, 25-17, and 25-14 in the final match of the day. As a team, the Raiders amassed 44 kills, 42 assists, nine service aces, 29 digs and five blocks. Albertus Magnus had 15 kills, 15 assists and 22 digs.