MEN'S VOLLEYBALL SPLIT IN OPENING OF BARD TOURNEY

The Mount Ida College men's volleyball team went 1-1 Friday night during the first day of the Bard College Tournament beating Polytechnic University of New York 3-1 (30-24, 25-30, 30-23, 35-33) but losing to host Bard College 3-1 (30-14, 30-23, 26-30, 30-16).  The Mustangs will have two more matches Saturday afternoon with their opponent to be determined.

Mount Ida dropped the first two games against the Raptors 30-14 and 30-23.  They would take game three by a score of 30-26 to prevent the shutout but eventually dropped game four 30-16 giving Bard College the 3-1 match victory. 

The Mustangs saw outstanding performances from sophomore Thomas Belton (Springfield, MA/Springfield Central) and senior captain Bryan McMenamin (Warminster, PA/William Tennent) hammering 16 kills a piece.  McMenamin chipped in 12 digs and two service aces as well.  Belton denied one solo block and three block assists while sophomore Gary Alvarez (Springfield, MA/Springfield Central) dished out 40 assists and added three block assists.

Against Polytechnic University of New York, the Mustangs dominated the opening game 30-24 but eventually fell in game two 25-30.   Mount Ida rolled in game three 30-23 to go ahead 2-1 in the match.  The final set was very close with Mount Ida mounting a comeback down 29-25.  Freshman Franklin McCaffrey (East Greenwich, RI/East Greenwich) served five straight points to give the Mustangs a one point advantage.  PUNY came back and knotted it up at 31-31.  But Mount Ida pulled ahead again closing out the match on five Belton swings to secure the 3-1 match victory.

Belton came up huge for the Mustangs with a monster game tallying 38 kills, 15 digs, and two block assists.  McMenamin also had a big day with 25 digs and nine kills while freshman McCoy Arnoux (Brockton, MA/Brockton) notched 10 kills and three digs.  Alvarez had his best game as a setter with a remarkable 56 assists, two kills, and one block assist.