NEWTON, Mass. – Behind by two sets, Mount Ida jumped out to a 4-0 lead and hung with Rivier in game 3, but was unable to close out a victory and fell 3-0 on Thursday night in Great Northeast Conference (GNAC) women's volleyball action.
Eleven players on each team recorded kills in this match, which finished with a scoreline of 25-9, 25-11, 25-22.
Junior Nicole Peixoto (New Bedford, Mass.) had 18 assists and a game-high three service aces for Mount Ida, and senior Abbey Fedigan (New Fairfield, Conn.) paced the home team with five kills.
For the Raiders, senior Nicole Peacock (Warwick, R.I.) had six kills and four of Rivier's 12 blocks. Setter Emily O'Reilly (San Francisco, Calif.) put up a game-high 24 assists.
The first set was tied at five before a kill by Nicole Boucher (Windham, N.H.), who had four in the game, jump-started the Raiders. With an 11-8 lead, Rivier closed the game on a 14-1 run, which included a serving run by Molly McCormack (Ballston Lake, N.Y.), who had seven digs and four kills herself.
A 12-2 run in the second set put Rivier in charge again, and again it was McCormack serving for the bulk of the flurry. A kill by Hillary Kostner (Corona, Calif.) and a service ace by Peixoto helped get Mount Ida back on track, but Rivier used a 6-2 surge to win the game, capped by kills from Kayla Smith (Eastham, Mass.) and Peacock.
With two aces by Peixoto, Mount Ida took a 4-0 lead in game three. Raiders freshman Chelsey Hussey (Lebanon, Conn.) served two aces of her own and Rivier tied the game at seven. The teams exchanged points until 11-11 before Rivier took advantage of a Dana Mott (Medway, Mass.) kill to take a three-point lead at 16-13.
The visitors maintained that advantage for the middle of the game, but a kill by Kellie Schroeder (North Grafton, Mass.) and an ace by Fedigan helped the Mustangs tie the game at 22.
Mott scored the first of three straight points, however, to help Rivier hold off the Mustangs in the third game and sweep the set.
Rivier senior Jessica Amaral (East Providence, R.I.) led all players with nine digs, while libero Kelcey Koolman (Bedford, N.H.) had seven digs to lead the Mustangs.
The Mustangs (3-16, 0-3 GNAC) will travel to Emmanuel this weekend for a conference tri-match at Emmanuel. Mount Ida starts their day with a 2:00 pm game against Albertus Magnus, followed by a match against the host Saints.
Rivier improves to 11-5 on the year and earns the win in their first conference match of the season. The Raiders will jump back into conference play Saturday when they host a GNAC, which begins with an 11:00 AM game against Saint Joseph's (ME).