MUSTANGS DROP 3-0 GNAC SHUTOUT ON SENIOR NIGHT

The Mount Ida College men's volleyball team hosted Northeast Collegiate Volleyball Association (NECVA) number one seeded Rivier College this Thursday on senior night falling to a 3-0 shutout by scores of 30-21, 30-14, and 30-18.  The Mustangs drop to 7-15 overall, 3-6 in Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) division play.  The Raiders continue their winning streak stretching to 23 games consecutively at 26-1 on the year and a perfect 10-0 in the GNAC. 

Although Mount Ida was immediately overmatched, they kept things close for the entire first game never trailing by more than seven points to a very solid Raiders team down 2-0 early.  The Mustangs cut the lead to 6-5 after a blocking error by the visitors but fell quickly behind down 11-5.  The Raiders held a commanding lead for the rest of game one but the Mustangs fought hard to keep it close trailing by six at 26-20.  Mount Ida eventually dropped the first set 30-21 and falling behind 1-0 in the match.

The Mustangs kept game two fairly close for a short period of time leading for a portion of the opening points up 3-2 after a kill by sophomore Thomas Belton (Springfield, MA/Springfield Central).  The score was eventually knotted three times until the Raiders decided to turn up the offense.  Out of the next 32 scoring opportunities the visitors would capitalize on 24 of them taking the 30-14 game two victory up 2-0 in the match.

Although the Mustangs led early up 4-3, game three was dominated by the visitors.  The Raiders powered a 10-2 run to pull ahead 22-9 with no answer from Mount Ida.  The Mustangs hung tough and chipped away at the lead but eventually dropped the 30-18 game three loss and the 3-0 match shutout.

Mount Ida was led by senior captain Bryan McMenamin (Warminster, PA/William Tennent) with nine kills and 15 digs along with Belton who tallied eight kills, two solo blocks, and five digs.  Sophomore setter Gary Alvarez (Springfield, MA/Springfield Central) dished out 19 assists. 

The Raiders were led by freshman Andrew Corwin (Sudbury, MA) with 12 kills while junior Zach Hansen (Shelton, CT) notched 25 assists.  Junior Kyle O'Neill (Long Beach, NY) added 13 digs as well. 

The Mustangs will travel to New Haven, Connecticut and visit the Albertus Magnus Falcons this coming Saturday at 11:00 a.m.