MILTON, Mass. - The Albertus Magnus College women's volleyball team lost a pair of 3-1 matches to Fitchburg State and Curry in two out-of-conference games on Saturday afternoon.
THE BASICS
MATCH 1: Fitchburg State 3 | Albertus Magnus 1
MATCH 2: Curry 3 | Albertus Magnus 1
RECORDS: Albertus Magnus (4-10, 0-3 GNAC) | Fitchburg State (8-6) | Curry (4-10)
MATCH 1 VS. FITCHBURG STATE
Set 1: Fitchburg State 25, Albertus Magnus 19
Set 2: Albertus Magnus 25, Fitchburg State 20
Set 3: Fitchburg State 25, Albertus Magnus 20
Set 4: Fitchburg State 25, Albertus Magnus 18
HIGHLIGHTS
In set one against Fitchburg State, the Falcons jumped out to a 7-2 lead as Nyanna Richards (Bridgeport, Conn.) and Majo Pelaez (Armenia, Colombia) each had a kill to go with an ace from Amanda Zdru (Stratford Conn.). Fitchburg State battled back, eventually tying the game at 8-8 before taking its first lead at 12-11. Three straight points from the Falcons, including a kill from Colleen Edwards (Clinton, Conn.) and an ace from Shalese Gordon (Bridgeport, Conn.) put the Falcons up two. The two teams were tied at 15-15 before Fitchburg State pulled away with a 10-4 run as they had three aces to go along with two kills from Sariah Dyer.
The Falcons never trailed in set two, scoring the first three points, in which Paula Matheus (Tunja-Boyaca, Colombia) and Edwards had kills. The Red Raiders battled back to within 5-3, but three straight kills from Pelaez put the Falcons back up five. Albertus led by as much as nine at 19-10 behind as Elizabeth Lynch (Stratford, Conn.), Edwards and Pelaez each had kills. Five straight points from the Red Raiders, including four errors from the Falcons made it a 19-15 game, but the Falcons held on, scoring their last five points via kill. The Falcons had 15 kills in the set with a 32.3 attack percentage, their highest of the match.
The Red Raiders flipped the script in set three, never trailing and leading 15-9 midway through the set. Four of the next five points went to Albertus as the Falcons crept back into it down just 16-13 as Emily Armida (Pine Bush, N.Y.) had two kills. It was the closest they'd get in the set as Fitchburg State led by as much as seven points on multiple occasions. Samantha Mirra had four kills in the set for Fitchburg State.
Albertus led 8-5 to start the fourth set behind three kills from Pelaez and two from Joisar Aviles (Hatillo, Puerto Rico). The Falcons took their biggest lead in the set at 13-9, but the Red Raiders followed with an 11-1 run to take control as Mirra and Stephanie Sardella led the charge with a combined three kills. The Falcons got back within three, but Fitchburg State scored the final five points to take the match.
TEAM LEADERS
Albertus
Majo Pelaez - 20 kills
Shalese Gordon - 32 assists
Amanda Zdru - 19 digs
Elizabeth Lynch - 1 blocks
Amanda Zdru - 2 aces
Fitchburg State
Samantha Mirra - 13 kills
Emily Gelinas - 32 assists
Jessica Greco - 13 digs
Gabrielle Griffiths and Diana Sosa-Martinez - 2 blocks
Stephanie Sardella - 3 aces
NOTEWORTHY
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The 20 kills from Pelaez were a career high.
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Gordon finished with a career-high 32 assists.
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The 45 kills for the Falcons were a season-high.
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The 17.1 attack percentage was a season-high.
MATCH 2 VS. CURRY
Set 1: Albertus Magnus 25, Curry 16
Set 2: Curry 25, Albertus Magnus 19
Set 3: Curry 25, Albertus Magnus 19
Set 4: Curry 25, Albertus Magnus 25
HIGHLIGHTS
The Falcons had 15 kills in a dominating set one win. Albertus jumped out to a 14-6 lead behind three kills from Pelaez and two from Nathalie Wallace (Rocky Hill, Conn.). Curry only got within five on a brief 3-0 run, but Albertus finished off the Colonels with an 11-7 run. Pelaez had six kills in the set, while Nyanna Richards had four.
In set two, it was the Colonels who jumped out to a eight point lead at 16-8 on six kills to take control. Albertus battled back to within two at 21-19 as Edwards led the rally with three kills. However, Curry scored the final four points, three of them on errors to tie the match, 1-1.
The Colonels jumped out to a 7-2 lead in set three, taking advantage of five errors from the Falcons before Albertus closed the gap to 8-6 on a kill by Matheus. Down 15-10, the Falcons scored five straight to tie the game. This time it was the Colonels committing multiple errors. The two teams would tie two more times, the last at 19-19, but Curry scored the final six points to go up 2-1 in the match.
The Falcons nearly made an improbable comeback in the fourth set. Trailing 21-14, Albertus went on a 6-1 run, all on Curry errors to close the gap to 22-20. They'd get to within one on a kill from Lynch, but a service error gave Curry the match.
TEAM LEADERS
Albertus
Majo Pelaez - 15 kills
Shalese Gordon - 31 assists
Amanda Zdru - 33 digs
Paula Matheus, Majo Pelaez and Nathalie Wallace - 1 block
Alexys Signor (North Haven, Conn.) - 2 aces
Curry
Lauren Guzman - 8 kills
Abby Sousa - 21 assists
Sydney DeCarvalho - 16 digs
Abby Sousa - 3 blocks
Sydney DeCarvalho and Lauren Guzman - 2 aces
NOTEWORTHY
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Zdru's 33 digs tied a career-high which she set earlier this season. She currently leads the GNAC in digs with 269 and digs per set with 5.27.
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The Falcons have now had two straight 40-plus kill matches.
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Gordon's 12 digs were a season-high.
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Curry now leads the all-time series, 5-3.
UP NEXT
The Falcons host City College of New York on Tuesday, October 3 at 7 p.m.
