NEWTON, Mass. – The Mount Ida women's volleyball suffered a 3-1 defeat to Southern Vermont College in the first meeting between the two squads on Monday night in non-conference action at Mount Ida Athletic Center.
The Mustangs (3-7) got 11 kills from sophomore Kellie Schroeder (North Grafton, Mass.) but dropped their fifth consecutive match, by scores of 25-16, 22-25, 25-23, and 25-17.
Junior Jessica Delgado (Los Angeles, Calif.) led the visitors with a game-high 16 kills, as well as five service aces and 11 digs.
The Mustangs seemed to be in good form to start the match, racing out to a 5-0 lead, only to have the Mountaineers (2-3) come back to tie the match at seven on consecutive service aces by Delgado. Mount Ida re-took the lead at 10-8, but Katie Cerulo (Natick, Mass.) served a 9-0 run that reclaimed the edge for Southern Vermont.
A kill and a service ace by Brin Goldman (St. Croix, Virgin Islands) helped to close out the first set.
The next set was more evenly balanced, with Mount Ida using a service ace and a kill by junior Kelcey Koolman (Bedford, N.H.) to fight back and tie the match at one.
Koolman registered 12 digs in the game and added four kills while making just one attacking error.
The Mountaineers opened the third set with an 11-5 advantage before a kill by Mary Kate Reidy (Agawam, Mass.), one of seven in the game, stopped the spurt. Mount Ida would tie the match at 20 and use a kill by Schroeder to get their noses in front, but at 23-21, a kill by Delgado, service ace by sophomore Sheilani Kaleopa (Riverside, Calif.), and two Mustang errors sent the visitors to a 2-1 lead.
Trying to force a deciding set, Mount Ida held an 11-9 advantage before a 12-4 run by the visitors put them in the driver's seat to finish the match. Goldman had a pair of kills for the visitors as they grabbed a 23-15 advantage, and the Mountaineers closed the door on a service and attacking error from the Green and White.
Freshman Shayna Vallauri (Morris Plains, N.J.) racked up 5 kills in a losing effort for Mount Ida, while senior Nicole Peixoto (New Bedford, Mass.) tallied 33 assists and ten digs and led Mount Ida with 3 service aces. Senior Nicole Batakis (East Longmeadow, Mass.) had nine kills.
Kaleopa tallied 26 assists and 12 digs in the win, while Goldman led the Mountaineers with 16 digs.
Mount Ida will continue their non-conference mid-week slate of games on Wednesday when the ytravel to Mitchell for a 6:00 pm game.
Southern Vermont is off until next weekend when they travel to Castleton for a tri-match against the Spartans and Lyndon State.