Posted: Oct 13, 2015
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. -- Mount Ida College had a tall task ahead of them on Tuesday Night at Rockwell Cage, and battled hard before falling 3-0 to No. 23 MIT in a non-conference women's volleyball match at Rockwell Cage.
Sophomore Mary Kate Reidy (Agawam, Mass.) powered Mount Ida (9-12) with nine kills as senior Kelcey Koolman (Bedford, N.H.) collected a match-high 10 digs. Senior Taylor Davis (Machiasport, Maine) rounded out the Mustangs with 13 assists.
Tough serving that generated 17 aces helped propel MIT to the victory, lifting their record to 20-1 on the season, marking 23 straight 20-win seasons for the program.
In two sets, MIT junior Megan Gebhard (Howell, Mich.) produced a match-high 11 kills on a .588 hitting performance. Sophomore Lisette Tellez (Miami, Fla.) and freshman Kerrie Greene (Alpharetta, Ga.) both posted five kills while seniorMeryl Gibbs (Bellaire, Texas) and sophomore Alli Davanzo (St. Johns, Fla.) both connected on four of their six errorless hitting attempts. Junior Tori Wuthrich (Grosse Pointe Woods, Mich.) and sophomore Clare Farley (La Jolla, Calif.) paced the squad with seven digs apiece as junior Jennie Glerum (Redmond, Wash.) led all players with five aces. Freshman Fiona Tanuwidjaja (Renton, Wash.) registered 16 assists and four aces while classmate Christina Liao (Warren, N.J.) dished out 14 assists.
MIT inched out to a 5-2 lead in the opening set but errors coupled with a block by freshmen Reece Martignetti (Foxborough, Mass.) and Kristy Walton (Fairhaven, Mass.) and an ace from Reidy put Mount Ida in front, 7-6. Back-to-back miscues followed by a pair of aces by Davanzo sparked a 10-3 run for the Engineers. Mount Ida narrowed the gap to 16-11 courtesy of a block by Davis and junior Molly Alkinburg (Port Deposit, Md.) but this was as close as it would get as two consecutive Gebhard kills kicked off a 9-3 set-ending run.
Trailing 6-3 in the second stanza, Mount Ida capitalized on a Reidy kill and four errors by the hosts to even the score at seven. Following its own timeout, MIT gained some breathing room on a Gibbs kill and an ace by freshman Abby Bertics (La Jolla, Calif.). An exchange of points ensued with another strike by Reidy cutting the Mustangs' deficit in half (11-10). Gebhard replied with a kill of her own while Tanuwidjaja followed with two aces, sparking a 12-4 run that featured Glerum's aces accounting for the last two points of the set.
The Engineers quickly established a 5-1 advantage in the final frame; however, two Reidy kills and a setting miscue brought Mount Ida within two (6-4). MIT responded with a Davanzo kill, igniting a 19-6 run to finish off the match as an ace by Glerum secured the victory.
Mount Ida will continue non-conference play on Thursday, Oct. 15 with a home match against Curry College at 6:00 pm.
Next up for MIT will be the MIT Quad Tournament on Friday, Oct. 16 and Saturday, Oct. 17 featuring St. Lawrence University, SUNY New Paltz, and Western New England University.