NEWTON, Mass. – With a three-set victory over Albertus Magnus on Monday afternoon at Mount Ida Athletic Center, the Mount Ida College women's volleyball team earned their first Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) win since 2012.
The Mustangs (6-17, 1-5 GNAC) broke a 17-match winless streak in conference play and get back in the win column for the first time since a 3-1 victory over Saint Joseph (CT) on October 27th, 2012. They finished the match in straight sets by scores of 25-19, 25-19, and 25-21.
Taylor Davis (Machiasport, Maine) led all players with eight kills and senior Nicole Peixoto (New Bedford, Mass.) piled up 31 assists in the victory.
Junior Kelcey Koolman (Bedford, N.H.) served five of Mount Ida's 13 team aces. Davis collected three aces hereself, and Peixoto and sophomore Molly Alkinburg (Port Deposit, Md.) each had a pair of aces.
For the visitors, sophomore Caitlin Prete (Milford, Conn.) had six kills and seven digs, while Leanna Velez (Waterbury, Conn.) had 12 assists.
With the teams tied at nine in the opening set, the Mustangs put together a 5-1 run, which included three kills by senior Nicole Batakis (Longmeadow, Mass.), who had seven in the contest. Mount Ida would not trail again in the opening set, with a kill by Kara Lyford (Merrimack, N.H.) sealing the win.
Shayna Vallauri (Morris Plains, N.J.), who had four kills in the game, and three straight aces by Koolman, helped the Mustangs jump out to a 17-9 lead in set two, and the hosts withstood a Falcons comeback attempt that included two kills by Prete to emerge with a 25-19 win.
Albertus Magnus jumped out to a 15-12 lead in the third set but Mount Ida climbed back into the driver's seat with a 6-0 run served by Davis. A kill by Caroline Kobierowski (Wallingford, Conn.) pulled the visitors back to a 21-19 deficit, but two points was as close as the Falcons would get, with a kill by Davis and attacking and service errors ending the match in favor of the Mustangs.
Sophomore Amy Seliga (East Haven, Conn.) had four kills in the loss for Albertus, while junior libero Alyssa Puccilli (Milford, Conn.) had a game-high 12 digs.
Koolman and Lucianna Medici (Riverside, R.I.) each had eight digs to lead the Mustangs, while freshman Mary Kate Reidy (Agawam, Mass.) also had seven kills in the win.
Mount Ida returns to non-conference action on Thursday night when they travel to Curry College for a 6:00 pm matchup.
Albertus Magnus (4-15, 0-6 GNAC) will be at Anna Maria this Saturday for a single GNAC contest at 10:00 AM.