In the opening match-up of today's Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) tri-match, the Mount Ida College women's volleyball hosted visiting Pine Manor College winning 3-1 by scores of 25-13, 25-9, 27-29, and 25-15.  The Mustangs improve to 5-7 overall taking their first GNAC victory of the season.  The Gators fall to 1-7, 0-4 in conference play.

The Mustangs jumped out to a quick 4-0 lead off four consecutive Pine Manor errors.  Mount Ida continued their run pulling ahead after a 6-0 run capped by a sophomore Rachelle Gilbert (Corunna, IN/Dekalb) kill.  The visitors could not handle the Mustangs offensive attack throughout game one but saw sparks of positive play after a kill from Gator senior Veronica Vozzolo (Bellmore, NY/JFK) trailing 14-6.  Unfortunately for Pine Manor, a slew of errors, on top of a strong offensive presence by the Mustangs handed the hosts the 25-13 game one victory up 1-0 in the match.

Game two began with the Mustangs hanging onto a one point edge up 6-5 capped by a freshman Christine Gallart (Germantown, MD/St. John's College H.S.) service ace.  The visitors kept it within five points but could not stop the errors trailing 15-9 on a couple of Chelsea Darnell (Dublin, OH/Dublin Scioto) kills.  The Mustangs eventually captured the game two win, 25-9, leading the match 2-0.

It was a different story in game three with Pine Manor challenging the Mustangs and desperately trying to prevent the shutout.  Mount Ida had trouble closing out their opposition featuring tough costly errors and unfocused play that turned into points for the Gators keeping them in it.  The game was only separated by two points for most of the action with the visitors holding a 19-17 lead.  Everything turned sour at this point for Mount Ida unable to close out Pine Manor.  The Gators gave it their all capitalizing on the victory in extra points winning 29-27 trailing 2-1 in the match. 

Game four started with the Mustangs holding an immediate 6-2 advantage.  The visitors chipped away midway through the match trailing 14-7 capped by a sophomore Jenn Gross (Coral Springs, FL/Coral Glades) kill.  The hosts started to pull away up 19-11 after a senior Lauren Biondo (Coventry, RI/Coventry) and a Gallart service ace.  The Mustangs ultimately captured the 25-15 game four win and the 3-1 match victory. 

Match two featured both visiting squads with Suffolk University taking on Pine Manor College is another GNAC bid.  The Rams were victorious for their first win of the day for their second conference win of the season.  The scores were 25-16, 25-12, 25-13.  

The Mustangs, behind a 13 kill performance from captain Lauren Biondo, snatched their second victory on the day blanking Suffolk 3-0 in straight sets by scores of 25-20, 25-23, and 25-9.  The hosts improved to 6-7 overall, 2-3 in the GNAC while the Rams fall to 4-5, 2-2 in conference play.

Along with Biondo, Mount Ida saw numerous solid individual efforts against Suffolk with Darnell hammering eight kills along with nine digs.  Mustangs Gilbert and Gallart chipped in four kills a piece with Gilbert notching a solo block.  Senior captain Cherie Parisi (South Attleboro, MA/Attleboro) tallied seven kills with a solo block and two block assists. 

The Mustangs will head to neighboring non-conference Lesley University this coming Wednesday starting at 7:30 p.m.