NORTH ADAMS, Mass. - The Albertus Magnus College women's volleyball team lost a tough contest to the Trailblazers of MCLA Wednesday evening in non-conference action inside the Amsler CC Gymnasium.
Junior Nathalie Wallace (Rocky Hill, Conn.) led the defensive unit at the net with a season-high four solo blocks, while junior Amanda Zdru (Stratford, Conn.) posted her seventh match of the season with 10+ digs for the Falcons.
THE BASICS
FINAL SCORE: MCLA 3 | Albertus Magnus 0
RECORDS: Albertus Magnus (5-13) | MCLA (10-5)
BOX SCORE
Set One: MCLA 25 | Albertus Magnus 13
Set Two: MCLA 25 | Albertus Magnus 20
Set Three: MCLA 25 | Albertus Magnus 17
KEY HIGHLIGHTS
• MCLA and Albertus started the match battling through four ties until the Trailblazers put together a 15-3 run to take the opening set from the Falcons, 25-13.
• Albertus opened set two with and early 6-1 lead, but a 14-3 run by the Trailblazers put the hosts ahead, 15-9. The Falcons battled back to within three, 23-20, following an attack error by MCLA's Chloie Garber, but it wasn't enough to secure the comeback, falling 25-20.
• MCLA kicked off the third and final set with a 9-2 run sparked by a kill from Garber. Then, the blue-and-white took their first lead of the stanza, 16-15, following a bad set from MCLA's Shannon O'Brien. Finally, the Trailblazers closed the match with a 10-1 run to complete the sweep.
TEAM HIGHS
Albertus:
Joismar Avilés (Hatillo, Puerto Rico) – 5 Kills
Rachael Pellegrini (Clinton, Conn.) – 6 Assists
Three tied with – 1 Aces
Amanda Zdru – 17 Digs
Nathalie Wallace – 4 Blocks
MCLA:
Elizabeth Brown – 10 Kills
Shannon O'Brien – 21 Assists
Shannon O'Brien – 4 Aces
Ellie Walter-Goodspeed – 18 Digs
Julie Graham – 2 Blocks
NOTEWORTHY
• This is the first meeting between the Falcons and Trailblazers.
• Wallace's four solo blocks were a career-high for the right-side hitter.
• Peyton Davis (North Haven, Conn.) also recorded 10+ digs for the Falcons, which is her sixth of the fall campaign.
UP NEXT
The Falcons return to Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) play on Saturday, Oct. 8, for an away tri-match at Rivier University. AMC will battle Norwich University first at 1 p.m. before challenging the hosts Raiders at 3 p.m.
