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WOMEN'S VOLLEYBALL FALLS IN ECAC QUARTERFINALS 3-1
The Mount Ida College women's volleyball team fell in the opening round of the Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference (ECAC) post-season tournament at the hands of hosting Colby-Sawyer College, 3-1, by scores of 16-25, 20-25, 25-20, and 25-10 Wednesday night in New London, New Hampshire. The fifth seeded Mustangs, who gained their first ever berth to the ECAC tournament via a 21-8 overall record, end their 2010 season with an overall record of 21-9. The Chargers will travel to number one seeded Endicott College this coming Saturday for semifinal action.
In the opening of game one, the Mustangs kept pace with Colby-Sawyer with one point separating the teams all the way up to 8-8 after a Chargers error to pull the visitors into a tie. Mount Ida eventually jumped ahead on four consecutive points, on two errors by the hosts and two kills by the Mustangs, one by senior captain Chelsea Darnell (Dublin, OH/Dublin Scioto) and another by sophomore Devyn Frank (Mystic, CT/Fitch) leading 12-8. Although the Mustangs held a three point advantage for the next couple of sets, the hosts came back tying the score at 14-14 after a Mount Ida error. The game remained very close until a handful of costly mistakes followed up with some offense by the hosts gave the Chargers a 20-16 advantage after a kill by senior Ashley Finethy (Alton Bay, NH/Prospect Mountain). Colby-Sawyer ultimately scored the next five points, mostly on Mustang errors, to take the 25-16 game one win leading 1-0 in the match.
Although it stayed close for parts of game two, Mount Ida never led falling behind immediately trailing 4-1 following a kill by Charger freshman Emilee McBride (Strafford, NH/Coe-Brown Northwood Academy). The visitors maintained their three point advantage for the next couple of exchanges holding steady at 8-5 after another kill by the hard hitting and very tall McBride. The Mustangs never backed off eventually tying the game after a small charge following a kill by sophomore middle Christine Gallart (Germantown, MD/St. John's College HS) at 10-10. The hosts eventually turned up the offensive heat scoring the next seven consecutive points taking a commanding 18-11 lead following a Mount Ida mistake. The Mustangs cut the advantage to a deuce going on a small 5-0 run of their own to cut the lead to 19-17 after a kill by Frank. That's as close as the Mustangs would get while the hosts cruised the rest of the way capturing game two 25-20 to take a 2-0 match lead.
Game three was all about the Mustangs who finally put all their talents together. The Mustangs trailed most of the set down by as many as five at 14-9 after a service ace by Charger senior Stef Turner (Boxborough, MA/Acton-Boxborough Regional). The hosts continued to hold their five point advantage at 16-11 after a Mustang error but this was the point where Mount Ida turned the game around. An overpowering 15-3 run by Mount Ida gave the visitors a momentum driven 24-18 advantage eventually snatching the game three win 25-20 still trailing 2-1 in the match.
Colby-Sawyer would capture game four starting strong to lead 7-3 after a slew of Mustang errors. The Mount Ida mistakes continued to pile up giving the hosts a commanding 14-7 advantage after another kill by Turner. The Mustangs would only score three more points while the visitors overpowered the offense on an 11-3 run to capture game three 25-10 and ultimately the quarterfinal match 3-1.
Mount Ida was led by Darnell who showcased a team high 12 kills on 38 attempts along with 12 digs. Gallart would add nine kills while junior Rachelle Gilbert (Corunna, IN/Dekalb) chipped in a team high 21 digs. Senior captain Kira Feeter (Keene, NH/Keene) dished out 14 assists while junior setter Cody Fusco (San Francisco, CA/San Francisco Waldorf added 13 assists of her own.
