MEN'S VOLLEYBALL SPLITS TRI-MATCH AT ELMS SATURDAY

The Mount Ida College men’s volleyball team cruised to a 3-2 (29-31, 31-29, 24-30, 30-25, 15-11) non-conference victory over hosting Elms College in Saturday afternoon’s men’s volleyball tri-match at Picknelly Arena.  The Mustangs improve to 10-12 overall. 

The Blazers cruised to a 6-2 lead to start the frame behind three kills from Cameron and one from Kleckner. Mount Ida used a 7-4 run to pull to within one at 10-9 before Acosta and Martin halted the charge with an assisted block. From there, the Mustangs responded with six unanswered points thanks to two kills by Thomas Belton (Springfield, MA), a pair of service aces by Spencer Hastings (Orlando, FL) and a kill by Eddie Pinero (Inwood, NY) to help seal the match for Mount Ida in thrilling fashion.

Acosta and Cameron each finished with a double-double in the match for the Blazers as Acosta downed 15 kills and added 15 digs, while Cameron blasted 12 kills and dug 15 balls.

Martin passed out 44 assists and added 11 digs en route to a double-double output, while Kleckner registered six service aces in the losing effort.

Acosta and freshman middle hitter Wilfrido Fermin (Bronx, N.Y.) added a solo block and two assisted blocks each.

Belton finished with a match-high 25 kills and contributed 13 digs for Mount Ida while McCoy Arnoux (Brockton, MA) and Hastings tallied 13 and 12 kills respectively.

Shane Wilson (Gloucester, MA) provided outstanding defensive effort, notching a match-high 18 digs in the winning effort.

Pinero paced the Mustangs’ offensive attack with 53 assists and downed four aces in the win.

The Mustangs will travel to Lasell College for their last contest of the season in Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) action this coming Tuesday starting at 7:00 p.m. in Newton, Massachusetts.