NEW HAVEN, Conn. - The Albertus Magnus College women's volleyball suffered a pair of Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) losses inside the Cosgrove Marcus Messer Athletic Center on Saturday afternoon. The Falcons opened play with a 3-0 loss to the Pride of Regis (Mass.) College, before succumbing to the Raiders of Rivier University, 3-0, in the nightcap.

THE BASICS - Match 1
FINAL: Regis (Mass.) 3 | Albertus Magnus 0 (25-15, 25-20, 25-19)
RECORDS: Albertus Magnus (2-10, 0-2 GNAC) | Regis (11-3, 4-0 GNAC)
BOX SCORE

KEY HIGHLIGHTS

• The Pride opened set one with a quick 10-1 lead before the Falcons closed the gap to within four, 19-15, following a block assist from Elayna Beutel (Prospect, Conn.) and Peyton Davis (North Haven, Conn.). However, Regis closed out the set with a 6-0 run sparked by a service error by the Falcons.
• Albertus started set two hot, taking the early 3-1 advantage, but the Pride and Falcons battled through two ties until the visitors took over the lead, 5-3. The Falcons tied the set again, 12-12, on a block assist from Beutel and Elizabeth Lynch (Stratford, Conn.), but Regis countered back with a 5-0 run and never looked back, claiming set two, 25-20.
• The final set was neck-and-neck between Albertus and Regis (Mass.) as the two battled through four ties (1-1, 6-6, 7-7, 8-8). Following the final tie, 8-8, Regis put together a 6-1 run that put themselves up 14-9, forcing Albertus to call a timeout. After the break, the Falcons cut their deficit to two, 16-14, but that would be as close as they got, as the Pride completed the sweep, 25-19.

TEAM HIGHS
Albertus:
Elayna Beutel - 5 Kills
Jaiden Williams (Orange, Conn.) - 14 Assists
Peyton Davis - 2 Aces
Amanda Zdru (Stratford, Conn.) - 7 Digs
Elayna Beutel - 3 Blocks

Regis:
Rita Dow - 12 Kills
Emily Fagundo - 22 Assists
Tyler Wax - 7 Aces
Mica van der Meulen - 21 Digs
Ahnasia Mckinney & Valerie Whalen - 3 Blocks

THE BASICS - Match 2
FINAL: Rivier 3 | Albertus Magnus 0 (25-22, 25-17, 25-19)
RECORDS: Albertus Magnus (2-9, 0-1 GNAC) | Rivier (5-4, 2-0 GNAC)
BOX SCORE

KEY HIGHLIGHTS

• The Falcons soared out of the gate with a commanding 10-2 lead behind a combined five kills from Beutel and Davis. Rivier slowly chipped away at the Falcons' lead and found themselves down seven, 17-10, before putting together an 8-0 run to take its first lead of the frame, 18-17. Albertus remained ahead for the following few points, but Rivier took home the 25-22, despite trailing 22-20.
• Like set one, Albertus took control early on in the frame until a kill from the Raiders evened the score at 12-12. Then, the Raiders' offense began to pick up the pace and closed out the second set with a 13-5 run to maintain a 2-0 lead heading into the final frame.
• The third set was different than the rest as both teams stayed within three or fewer points of one another. With the score evened at 10-10, Rivier rallied together a 10-2 run to take a commanding 20-12 lead over the hosts. Albertus answered back with a short run and cut the deficit to within four, 20-16, following a kill from Ivanna Sanfeliz (Dorado, Puerto Rico). Despite the rally, Rivier kept its composure and took the third and final set by a score of 25-19.

TEAM HIGHS
Albertus:
Elayna Beutel - 10 Kills
Jaiden Williams - 10 Assists
Ivanna Sanfeliz - 2 Aces
Jaiden Williams - 6 Digs
Ivanna Sanfeliz - 4 Blocks

Rivier:
Lily Blodgett - 13 Kills
Avery Pollard - 26 Assists
Cadia Greene and Avery Pollard - 4 Aces
Olivia Garand - 14 Digs
Avery Pollard - 3 Blocks

UP NEXT
On Thursday, Oct. 7, the Falcons return to action with a road GNAC match against Elms College at 7 p.m. at the Maguire Center in Chicopee, Mass.