New Haven, Conn. – The Albertus Magnus College women's tennis team fell to visiting Mount Ida, 3-0, in Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) action on Wednesday evening at The Nest inside the Cosgrove Marcus Messer Athletic Center. With the setback, the Falcons move to 2-11 overall and 0-4 in conference play, while the Mustangs won their third straight to improve to 8-10 on the year and 1-2 in league tilts. The visitors held double-digit leads in every game en route to a 25-10, 25-14 and 25-13 triumph.
Holding a 5-4 lead in the first game, Mount Ida blew the game open with 15 of the next 18 points to take a 20-7 advantage. During the spurt, the Mustangs took advantage of five Albertus Magnus attack errors. The guests took the first game with a 3-0 run at the end thanks to a kill from sophomore outside hitter Mary Kate Reidy and two service aces from senior setter Taylor Davis.
In the second game, the Falcons tied the game at six following a kill from sophomore middle hitter Ana Gomez (New Haven, Conn.). The Mustangs would respond by reeling off eight of the next nine points to build a 14-7 lead. Albertus Magnus was not able to put a run of point together and an ace from senior libero Kelcey Koolman gave Mount Ida a commanding, 2-0, advantage.
The Falcons took a 6-5 lead in the third frame courtesy of a Mustang service error. The visitors would score 12 of the next 16 points to build an 18-9 edge. During the run, Mount Ida attacked the Falcon back row and registered five service aces. The guests sealed their victory with a kill from junior right side Alysha Dunbar.
Offensively, Albertus Magnus was paced by freshman middle hitter Megan Gritz (Milford, Conn.) with four kills, while Gomez added two and junior outside hitter Amber Cohens (Hamden, Conn.) recorded three of her own. Sophomore defensive specialist Marielis Muriel (New Haven, Conn.) led Albertus Magnus with eight assists. On the defensive end, Cohens had a block and freshman defensive specialist Megan Warnke (Naugatuck, Conn.) had seven digs.
Reidy led the offensive attack for Mount Ida, registering a match-high 10 kills to go along with five digs and a pair of aces. Dunbar was efficient at the net, tallying seven kills and a .636 attack percentage, while junior middle blocker Molly Alkinburg added six kills with a .625 attack percentage. Davis did a good job distributing the ball, dishing out a match-leading 31 assists to go along with five aces. Defensively, Dunbar had a game-bessst 10 digs and Koolman added six of her own.
As a team, the Falcons had 10 kills, nine assists, three aces, 15 receiving errors, 25 digs and one block. On the opposite side, the Mustangs had 31 kills, 31 assists, 15 aces, eight service errors, 31 digs and one block.
Albertus Magnus returns to action on Saturday, October 7, with a road GNAC clash versus Simmons.