BOSTON, Mass. – The Mount Ida College women's volleyball team returned to Great Northeast Athletic Conference action on Wednesday night but suffered a 3-0 (25-15, 25-13, 25-22) defeat to host Emmanuel College at the Jean Yawkey Center.

With the win, the Saints snap a six-match losing skid and improve to 3-9 overall on the year and 1-0 in GNAC action while the loss drops the Mustangs to 5-10 and 0-2 in the GNAC.

Mount Ida opened the scoring in the first set with a kill by senior setter Taylor Davis (Machiasport, Maine) to take a 1-0 lead but it was short-lived as Emmanuel rattled off three quick points capped by a kill from senior outside hitter Danielle Rose (Wilkes-Barre, Pa.) to go ahead 3-1. After that, the Saints never trailed en route to a 25-15 win, hitting .267 as a team while holding the Mustangs to a negative -.030 hitting clip.

The second set was controlled by EC as the hosts jumped out to a 7-1 lead following a kill by freshman right side Katharine Journeay (Hampton, N.H.). Behind the service game of junior Sarah Schemerhorn (Los Angeles, Calif.), the Saints raced ahead to a 13-2 cushion before Mount Ida stopped the service run. Trailing 17-5, the Mustangs made some noise with a 6-0 run to cut the score to 17-11 with freshman outside hitter Kristy Walton (Fairhaven, Mass.) serving but Emmanuel held on for the 25-13 win.

The Saints struggled early in the third set and Mount Ida capitalized by racing out to a 12-5 lead after a kill by junior middle hitter Molly Alkinburg (Port Deposit, Md.).  Trailing 15-10, Emmanuel's passing game began to improve and the offensive benefited as the hosts rattled off nine straight points to pull ahead 19-15 behind the service of Journeay. A kill by Alkinburg pulled the Mustangs to within one at 21-20 but the hosts held on for the come-from-behind win in the final frame, 25-22.

Sophomore Mary Kate Reidy (Agawam, Mass.) paced the Mustangs with seven kills while Walton finished with five. Davis finished the night with a match-high 19 assists while senior libero Kelcey Koolman (Bedford, N.H.) posted a match-best 22 digs.

Rose led the way for the Saints with a team-high seven kills and a .400 hitting clip while junior middle Kaitlyn Atkinson (Brookline, N.H.) added six kills. Journey posted a team-high 20 digs while rookie setter Carly Church (Higganum, Conn.) dished out 13 helpers.

Mount Ida returns to action on Saturday with a tri-match on the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth campus starting with the hosts at 11:00 AM followed by another non-conference tilt with Eastern Nazarene at 1:00 PM

The Saints play the same day when they travel to GNAC foe Norwich University at 11:00 AM in Northfield, Vt. .