MEN'S VOLLEYBALL FALLS TO RIVIER 3-0 IN GNAC ACTION

The Mount Ida College men's volleyball dropped their second consecutive Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) contest to visiting powerhouse Rivier College falling 3-0 by scores of 30-19, 30-21, and 33-31. The Mustangs fall to 4-7 overall, 2-5 in conference competition while the visitors stay perfect in the GNAC at 7-0 improving to 13-3 on the year.

After two ties in the opening of game one, Rivier went ahead by three up 8-5 after an error by the Mustangs.  The Raiders continued to pull away after three consecutive 3-0 runs leading 16-8 after a Mount Ida hitting error by freshman Spencer Hastings (Orlando, FL/Timber Creak).  The Mustangs struggled to score points in bunches while the visitors continued to after a 4-0 run up 21-10 after a kill by Raider senior Matt Ferreira (North Providence, RI/Lincoln).  Mount Ida struggled to keep pace with the visitors the rest of the way and ultimately dropped game one 30-19 to lead 1-0 in the match.

The Mustangs hung tough in game two holding a one point advantage up 7-6 after a solo block by junior Thomas Belton (Springfield, MA/Springfield Central).  Rivier powered a 5-0 run to pull ahead 12-9 after a Tajh Stokes (Salem, NH/Salem) kill.  Multiple errors by Mount Ida made it difficult to charge a late comeback with the visitors up 18-11 after a Jamison Chue (Newton, MA/Newton South) kill.  The Raiders kept the pressure on cruising to a 30-21 game two victory leading the match 2-0.

Game three was much more exciting with Mount Ida bringing a ton of pressure on the Raiders.  The Mustangs worked hard and stayed with the visitors with only a small four point advantage separating the teams with Rivier holding the 19-15 edge after a service error by the hosts.  Mount Ida mounted a comeback tying the score eight times with some serious offense from Hastings and Belton eventually taking the lead 29-28 after a Belton block.  Heading into extra points, Mount Ida had trouble holding the edge with the visitors ultimately took home a 33-31 game three win capped off with a huge solo block on the final point by sophomore Alex Xenidis (Shelton, CT/Shelton) winning the match 3-0. 

Mount Ida was led by Hastings with a double-double with 11 kills and 10 digs while Belton notched 14 kills, three solo blocks, and two block assists.  Senior Shane Wilson (Gloucester, MA/Gloucester) tallied eight digs and freshman Eddie Pinero (Inwood, NY/Lawrence) dished out 18 assists.

The Mustangs will host their first tri-match of the season against visiting Regis College and Newbury College starting at 11:00 a.m. on Saturday.