LEICESTER, Mass. – Mount Ida College got their 2015 season rolling by dispensing host Becker College 3-0 in non-conference women's volleyball action on Tuesday evening. The Mustangs prevailed by set scores of 25-20, 25-22, and 25-7 to improve to 1-0 on the season and win their first season opener since 2011.
Mount Ida was led by outside hitter Mary Kate Reidy (Agawam, Mass.), who had a match-high seven kills and setter/hitter Alysha Dunbar (Quincy, Mass.), who had 10 assists and 12 aces.
Despite a solid collegiate debut from freshman Kayla Dupree (North Bergen, N.J.), the Hawks dropped to 0-1 on the year.
The first set of the 2015 season was a back-and-fourth affair with five ties, the last coming at 17-17. From there, Mt. Ida used a 4-0 run that proved to be the difference in the set.
The Mustangs got out to a quick 7-3 lead to start the second set, but the Hawks fought back to tie the match at 9-9. The teams traded 4-0 runs with a Dupree kill tying the match at 18-18 followed by an ace from the rookie to give Becker a 21-20 advantage. A Mount Ida service error tied the match, 22-22, but two Becker attack errors gave Mount Ida the set, 25-22.
Senior libero Kelcey Koolman (Bedford, N.H.) had 15 digs for the Mustangs, while senior Taylor Davis (Machiasport, Maine) pitched in with three kills, 11 assists and four of Mount Ida's 23 aces.
First year Kristy Walton (Fairhaven, Mass.) added four kills and Reece Martignetti (Foxborough, Mass.) had two kills and a block assist in their Mustang debuts.
Dupree (North Bergen, N.J.), led the Hawks with five kills and a .333 hitting percentage. She also added four aces and a block. Juniors Cheyenne Melanson (Sandown, N.H.) and Marisa Turner (Coventry, R.I.) were next on the team with four and three kills, respectively.
Defensively, Becker was led by freshman libero Brittney Bullis (Stafford, Va.) with 13 digs while sophomore setter Charlene Landry (Gorham, Maine) had a team-best 13 assists.
Serving was the difference in the match as Becker gave the Mustangs 35 of their 75 points from 12 services errors and 23 serve-receive errors. Mount Ida also held an edge in hitting percentage (.174-to-.000) and digs (34-to-29).
Mount Ida continues to be road warriors with a match on Thursday at 6:00 pm at Pine Manor College.
Becker returns to the court on Thursday when they travel to Massachusetts Maritime for a 7:00 p.m. tilt before coming back to Leicester Gymnasium on Saturday to face WPI at 10:00 a.m.