Women's Volleyball Opens the 2016 Season With Two Wins at the Blazer Invitational

Photo by: Ron Waite/ Photosportacular
Photo by: Ron Waite/ Photosportacular

Chicopee, Mass. – The Albertus Magnus College women's volleyball team opened up the 2016 season with a pair of shutout wins at the Blazer Invitational hosted by Elms on Friday afternoon. The Falcons topped the hosts, 3-0, in the opener and scored a resounding 3-0 triumph against York College in the finale.

Dating back to last season, Albertus Magnus has beaten both York and Elms two straight times. The Falcons took the opener against the Blazers on Friday by a score of 25-19, 25-20 and 25-21 before cruising to a 25-16, 25-14 and 25-20 victory versus the Cardinals.

In the first contest of the day, junior middle hitter Ana Gomez (New Haven, Conn.) paced the AMC attack with a match-best 10 kills to go along with a .474 attack percentage. In her collegiate debut, freshman outside hitter Ashley David (West Islip, N.Y.) chipped in eight kills and 12 digs, while senior Amber Cohnes (West Haven, Conn.) contributed six kills and freshman Tatiana Hernandez (New Haven, Conn.) added five kills. Junior defensive specialist Marielis Muriel (New Haven, Conn.) did a good job distributing the ball and racked up a game-high 25 assists. Defensively, the Falcons had 53 digs with four different players recording 10 or more. Hernandez and classmate Jesselle Guzman (Santa Teresa, N.M.) lead the way with 13 apiece.

In the finale, it was a balanced offensive effort with four different Albertus Magnus players registering five or more kills. Cohens led the way for the Falcons versus York with seven kills and a .231 attack percentage. Muriel again topped the 20-assist plateau with 21 to go along with one ace and five digs. On the defensive end, freshman Nashalie Bayona (New Haven, Conn.) had a career-high 10 digs, while Hernandez and Guzman both had eight apiece.

The Falcons have now won back-to-back season openers under Head Coach Vanessa Rosario.

Albertus Magnus closes out the opening weekend of play at the Blazer Invitational with a non-conference clash with SUNY Cobleskill tomorrow, September 3, at 10:00 am inside Picknelly Arena.

For the latest information on the women's volleyball team and Albertus Magnus athletics, follow AMCAthletics on Twitter and visit AlbertusFalcons.com.