WEST HARTFORD, Conn. -- In a match with sweeping swings of momentum, Mount Ida College was unable to hold off the University of Saint Joseph, who took a five-set victory in a Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) women's volleyball match on Saturday afternoon at the O'Connell Center.
In a split tri-match that included two GNAC teams and one non-league match, the Mustangs dropped both of their decisions, falling to Bard College 3-1 in out of conference play.
Game One: Saint Joseph (CT) 3, Mount Ida 2
The Mustangs went out in front after a 25-22 first set win, but the Bluejays surged back with matching 25-11 victories. Mount Ida forced a deciding set by taking the foruth game 25-20, but USJ never trailed in the decisive set en route to a 15-12 victory.
Freshman Alexis Bell (Salem, Conn.) had a double-double with 25 assists and 13 digs, as did Mary Kate Reidy (Agawam, Mass.), who led the team in both kills (12) and digs (16). Each player had a pair of service aces, a category led by Alexa Galluci (North Stonington, Conn.), who had four aces on the day.
Sophomore Kristy Walton (Fairhaven, Mass.) added five kills and ten digs and freshman Hanna Simpkins (Walpole, N.H.) had four kills and five digs in the loss.
The Bluejays got 15 kills out of Shytasia Williams (Middletown, Conn.) and a game-high 41 assists out of Brenna Miller (McCleary, Wash.), who also had nine digs.
Demetria Eiger (Phoenix, Ariz.) and Jasmine Buckley (Beacon, N.Y.) led the way with 22 and 16 digs, respectively, with Buckley stuffing the stat sheet with eight kills and four service aces.
Game Two: Bard 3, Mount Ida 1
Reidy had 12 more kills and 16 more digs and Mount Ida tied the match at a game apiece after the Raptors had jumped out to a 25-19 first set win. The Mustangs came back and took the second set 25-15, but Bard edged them 26-24 and then finished off the match with a resounding 25-12 fourth set victory.
Senior Molly Alkinburg (Port Deposit, Md.) had 11 kills and was in on four blocks, and Bell put up 28 assists and dug out ten balls for another double-double effort.
Freshman Maggie Barros (Tyngsboro, Mass.) had a career-best five kills for the Mustangs.
Sofia Koukia (Athens, Greece) had a game-high 14 kills to lead Bard, while Emily Anastasi (Cornwall, N.Y.) had 17 digs and Philippine Alba (San Francisco, Calif.) added 13 kills and a Philippine Alba added 13 kills and a game-high five service aces.
Mount Ida (6-10, 0-3) hosts Albertus Magnus this Wednesday night with a first serve set for 6:00 pm at Mount Ida Athletic Center.