NEWTON, Mass. – Mount Ida said goodbye to three members of it's women's volleyball program on Tuesday night and then collected a 3-0 victory over Salem State University in non-conference action at Mount Ida Athletic Center.
In a ceremony before the game, the Mustangs honored Abbey Fedigan (New Fairfield, Conn.), Hillary Kostner (Corona, Calif.) and Emily Hutvagner (Beacon Falls, Conn.), who were all playing their final home games in the Green and White. Mount Ida then went on to record three straight set victories, by scores of 25-20, 25-21, and 25-9.
Fedigan pitched in five kills in the victory and Kostner served six of Mount Ida's 12 aces, while adding three kills and six digs. Hutvagner had two kills in the game and just one attacking error.
It was a senior leading the way for the Vikings as well, as Jazmin Santos (Lawrence, Mass.) had 11 kills and a team-high six digs.
Kostner got the Mustangs started with four consecutive aces and Hutvagner added one of her two kills to put the Mustangs in front 7-1 in the first set.
The Vikings led early in the second set but Mount Ida worked to tie the game at eight and then took the lead at 10-9 on a kill by Nicole Batakis (East Longmeadow, Mass.), who led the team with eight.
Five of those kills came in the second set, when Batakis hit 1.000. She didn't make an error on nine attempts in the game, good for a .889 hitting percentage.
Batakis was set up by junior setter Nicole Peixoto (New Bedford, Mass.), who handed out 20 assists in the game. Her counterpart, senior Mackenzie Carpenter (Peabody, Mass.), had a game-high 22 assists for Salem State.
The third set was all Mustangs, as they used a 17-2 run to take an 18-5 lead, sparked by Schroeder, who had four kills in the final set.
Mount Ida sophomore libero Kelcey Koolman (Bedford, N.H.) recorded ten digs, putting her in double digits for the fourth consecutive game.
The visitors got six digs from Jerika Santiago (Methuen, Mass.) and a service ace from her and sophomore Micaela Forcaciari (Plymouth, Mass.).
Senior Nicole Roscoe (Lowell, Mass.) had two solo blocks for the Vikings, while Fedigan provided the only rejection for Mount Ida.
The Mustangs (4-26) will finish their season on the road on Friday, when they play Anna Maria in their final Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) game of the year.
Salem State (5-13) returns to Massachusetts State College Athletic Conference (MASCAC) action when they go to Worcester to play Worcester State on Saturday at 7:00 PM.