WATERVILLE, Me. - The Albertus Magnus College women's volleyball team lost both ends of a Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) tri-match against New England College, 3-1, and Saint Joseph (Me.), 3-0.

THE BASICS

MATCH 1: New England College 3 | Albertus Magnus 1 (BOX) 

MATCH 2: Saint Joseph (Me.) 3 | Albertus Magnus 0 (BOX)

RECORDS: Albertus Magnus (6-17, 1-9 GNAC) | New England College (10-13, 5-7 GNAC) | Saint Joseph (Me.) (10-13, 7-5 GNAC)

MATCH 1 vs. NEW ENGLAND COLLEGE

Set 1: New England College 25, Albertus Magnus 21

Set 2: Albertus Magnus 25, New England College 19

Set 3: New England College 25, Albertus Magnus 15

Set 4: New England College 25, Albertus Magnus 23

HOW IT HAPPENED

Albertus fell behind 3-0 early in set one before finally taking a lead at 6-5 as Colleen Edwards (Clinton, Conn.) and Majo Pelaez (Armenia, Colombia) each had a kill during the early rally. The Falcons were able to hold onto the lead for most of the set, taking their biggest lead at 20-16 after another kill from Edwards. However, the Pilgrims scored eight of the final nine points behind two aces from Lily-Anne Heywood and kills from three different players to take the early 1-0 match lead. Pelaezhad five kills in the set, while Edwards had three.

The Falcons bounced back in set two, as they never trailed, jumping out to an early 10-5 lead as Pelaez had four kills during the opening run. The Pilgrims never got closer than four points the rest of the set as Elizabeth Lynch (Stratford, Conn.) and Paula Matheus (Tunja-Boyaca, Colombia) each had two kills the rest of the way to tie the match at 1-1.

Set three saw an early 5-2 lead by Albertus turn into an 8-5 lead by NEC as the Pilgrims scored six straight. Albertus got within one after a kill from Lynch, but four straight points from NEC put it back up, 17-12. The Pilgrims finished on an 8-3 run. Heywood had two kills during the final run, while Savannah Pilialoha had three.

In the final set, it looked as though the Pilgrims would run away with the set, taking a 17-8 lead. However, the Falcons rebounded, scoring seven straight as Lynch had two kills, while Paula Matheus had one as well as an ace from Edwards. NEC went back up by four at 19-15 before Pelaez led another charge, scoring four of the next five points of the set herself, bringing the Falcons' deficit back to one. Both teams traded four-point runs as the Falcons staved off four straight match-point sets on kills from Pelaez and Edwards before an error gave the Pilgrims the match.

LEADERS

Albertus

Majo Pelaez - 21 Kills

Shalese Gordon (Bridgeport, Conn.) - 32 Assists

Amanda Zdru (Stratford, Conn.) - 25 Digs

Shalese Gordon - 4 Blocks

Majo Pelaez - 2 Aces

New England College

Lily-Anne Heywood - 17 Kills

Aurora Gutierrez-Macias - 19 Assists

Alyssa Dunbar-Molina - 16 Digs

Lily-Anne Heywood - 2 Blocks

Lily-Anne Heywood - 3 Aces

NOTEWORTHY

• Pelaez had 21 assists for the second time in three games, matching a career-high.
• Gordon's 32 assists marked the fourth time she has had more than 30 assists in a match this season.
• The five kills from Matheus marked a career-high.

MATCH 2 vs. SAINT JOSEPH (Me.)

Set 1: Saint Joseph (Me.) 25, Albertus Magnus 21

Set 2: Saint Joseph (Me.) 25, Albertus Magnus 14

Set 3: Saint Joseph (Me.) 25, Albertus 19

HOW IT HAPPENED

The Monks took a three-point lead on multiple occasions early on in set one before the Falcons took their first lead at 10-9 behind three straight kills from Pelaez. With the teams tied at 14-14, the Monks scored four straight, two on kills by Maggie Sylvester, to take an 18-14 lead. They'd take their biggest lead at 23-17, on their way to take a 1-0 match lead. Pelaez had six kills in the set. Nyanna Richards (Bridgeport, Conn.) had two.

The Falcons never led in set two as the Monks led by 6-2 early on. The Falcons would get within one point at 6-5, capitalizing on three errors from the Monks. From there, however, the Monks would take control, taking a commanding 21-12 lead after back-to-back kills from Maggie Sylvester. Victoria Briones had kills on two of the final three points as the Monks took a 2-0 match lead.

After an early 2-1 lead for the Falcons in set three, the Monks scored 12 of the next 13 points, taking a 13-3 lead. However, the Falcons nearly matched the run with eight straight points of their own behind a kill and ace from Pelaez and a kill from Gordon to make it a 13-11 game. The Falcons would get it back to within two points one more time at 15-13, but three kills from Victoria Briones and two from Maggie Sylvester gave the Monks the match. 

LEADERS

Albertus

Majo Pelaez - 12 kills

Shalese Gordon - 19 Assists

Majo Pelaez - 14 digs

Majo Pelaez and Nathalie Wallace (Rocky Hill, Conn.) - 1 block

Majo Pelaez - 2 aces

Saint Joseph (Me.)

Maggie Sylvester - 13 kills

Kailyn Chamberlin - 27 assists

Abby Jerome - 19 digs

Hanna Webster - 5 blocks

Abby Jerome - 4 aces

UP NEXT

The Falcons take on Dean on the road on Wednesday, October 25 at 6 p.m. in GNAC action.