NEWTON, Mass. – In their 13th meeting in program history, but just second since 2006, Mount Ida continued their dominance over Becker College, beating the Hawks 3-1 on Wednesday night in non-conference women's volleyball action at Mount Ida Athletic Center.
The Mustangs (5-12) are still unbeaten against Becker, though the Hawks (3-13) avoided a sweep for the just the second time in the series (2001).
They threatened to do more than that when they jumped out to a 1-0 lead after a 25-18 first set victory, but Mount Ida reclaimed the advantage with 25-16 and 25-17 wins before a late comeback helped them avoid sudden death, 25-23.
Mustang junior Taylor Davis (Machiasport, Maine) led all players with 14 kills in the game, and Mount Ida served 15 aces in the contest, with Davis also leading the way in that department with five.
Senior Nicole Peixoto (New Bedford, Mass.) tallied 38 assists, her third highest total this season, and also served four aces.
The home team did miss 15 serves on the night as well, seven of them coming in the first set, which Becker capitalized on after taking a 6-0 lead through the service of Charlene Landry (Gorham, Maine), who paced her squad with 11 assists. Though Mount Ida closed the gap, the Hawks finished the game on a 7-3 run which included a kill by Kirsti Hadzewycz (Daytona Beach, Fla.), who led her team with 8 kills and three blocks.
Game two saw Mount Ida emphatically push back, dashing out to a 10-1 lead on service by Davis and never looking back. It was Peixoto serving in game three when Mount Ida turned an 11-10 deficit into a 17-11 advantage, starting and ending the run with kills by freshman Mary Kate Reidy (Agawam, Mass.), who turned in a double-digit night as well, with 10. A 6-2 run closed the third game for the Green and White.
Becker tried to force a decisive game five and led 19-18 and 23-22 in the fourth set, with kills by Marissa Turner (Coventry, R.I.) and Landry key parts of the play.
Trailing by a point, Mount Ida got a kill from sophomore Molly Alkinburg (Port Deposit, Md.), one of six in the game, another from Davis, and fittingly capped the night with a service ace, this one by freshman Kara Lyford (Merrimack, N.H.).
Sophomore Alysha Dunbar (Quincy, Mass.) picked up eight kills for Mount Ida, while junior libero Kelcey Koolman (Bedford, N.H.) recorded 16 digs and three service aces.
Landry led Becker defensively with 10 digs while Turner had six kills for the Hawks. Landry and Hadzewycz served the only aces of the games for Becker.
The Mustangs will continue their stretch of non-conference play on Saturday when they travel to Quincy, Mass. for a tri-match featuring hosts Eastern Nazarene, as well as the University of Southern Maine.
Becker starts their New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) play on Saturday with a single game at Mitchell at 1:00 pm.