PATCHOGUE, N.Y. - The Albertus Magnus College women's volleyball team lost its first two matches of the season, losing to John Jay, 3-0, before falling to host Saint Joseph's (L.I.), 3-0 on Saturday afternoon in a non-conference tri-match.

The losses snapped a four match winning streak to begin the season for the Falcons, the best in program history.

Majo Pelaez (Armenia, Colombia) had 11 kills in the first match and seven in the second to pace the Falcons. Amanda Zdru (Stratford, Conn.) had a season-high 24 digs against John Jay. 

THE BASICS

MATCH 1: John Jay College 3 | Albertus Magnus College 0 

MATCH 2: Saint Joseph's (L.I.) 3 | Albertus Magnus College 0

MATCH 1 vs. John Jay

SET 1: John Jay 25 | Albertus 16

SET 2: John Jay 25 | Albertus 19

SET 3: John Jay 25 | Albertus 20

BOX

RECORDS: Albertus (4-1) | John Jay (4-1)

HOW IT HAPPENED

• Pelaez opened up the first set with two kills as the Falcons took a 2-1 lead early. John Jay then responded with a 7-0 run that included two kills from Theresa Schmitt to give the Bloodhounds an 8-2 lead. Albertus crept back to get within two at 9-7 after another kill from Pelaez and three attack errors from John Jay. After the Bloodhounds extended its lead once again to five points, the Falcons got to within three points one last time at 16-13, but would not get any closer as John Jay finished the set on a 9-3 run to take an early 1-0 match lead.
• Albertus took leads on three different occasions in the second set, the last time at 10-9 as Shalese Gordon (Bridgeport, Conn.) and Pelaez each had two kills apiece in the early going. John Jay jumped back ahead, taking a 21-13 lead during a run that included three aces by the bloodhounds. Albertus got back to within five at 21-16 as the Bloodhounds made three straight attack errors. The Bloodhounds would end the set on a kill from Reilly Catan and an ace from Leah Kaplan to take a 2-0 match advantage.
• Albertus never led in the final set, but made a run towards the end. After falling behind 20-16, two errors and a kill from Yarieshka Sierra (Hartford, Conn.) got the Falcons back to within one at 20-19. The Bloodhounds then scored five of the final six points to win the match, giving Albertus its first loss of the season. Pelaez had four kills in the set as did Catan for John Jay.

LEADERS

Albertus

• Majo Pelaez - 11 Kills
• Shalese Gordon - 19 Assists
• Nyanna Richards (Bridgeport, Conn.) and Majo Pelaez - 1 Ace
• Amanda Zdru - 24 Digs
• Nyanna Richards and Shalese Gordon - 1 Block

John Jay

• Reilly Catan - 10 Kills
• Leah Kaplan - 11 Assists
• Malia Reyes - 4 Aces
• Malia Reyes - 12 Digs
• Paige Sadowitz - 5 Blocks

MATCH 2

SET 1: St. Joe's (L.I.) 25 | Albertus 6

SET 2: St. Joe's (L.I.) 25 | Albertus 17

SET 3: St. Joe's (L.I.) 25 | Albertus 11

BOX

RECORDS: Albertus (4-2) | St. Joe's (L.I.) (2-4)

HOW IT HAPPENED

• The first set was all St. Joseph's as it jumped out to a 9-2 lead on the heels of six attack errors by Albertus early on. Albertus never got closer than six points the rest of the way as St. Joseph's scored 13 of the last 14 points, the final four points on two kills from Luciana D'Ambrosio and two aces from Katie D'Angelo to take a 1-0 match lead.
• The second set saw the Falcons jump out to a 5-0 lead, taking advantage of four errors by the Golden Eagles and a kill from Pelaez for the first point of the set. However, the Golden Eagles went on an 8-1 run that included two aces from Sarah Hansen to take an 8-6 lead. Albertus jumped back into the lead at 9-8 after an ace by Amanda Zdru and would take an 11-9 lead on a kill from Gordon. The two teams would tie three more times in the set, the final time at 14-14 before the Golden Falcons scored four straight points to take an 18-14 lead. Albertus got to within three points two more times but the Golden Falcons closed on a 6-1 run to take a commanding 2-0 match lead.
• In the final set, the Falcons got an ace from Zdru and three kills from Pelaez, but the Golden Falcons finished on a 10-2 run that included three aces from Hansen to give the Golden Falcons the match win.

LEADERS

Albertus

• Majo Pelaez - 7 Kills
• Shalese Gordon - 8 Assists
• Amanda Zdru - 2 Aces
• Amanda Zdru - 14 Digs
• Nathalie Wallace (Rocky Hill, Conn.) and Emma Fallon (Harwinton, Conn.) - 1 Block

St. Joe's (L.I.)

• Dierdre Carney - 6 Kills
• Katie D'Angelo - 23 Assists
• Katie D'Angelo - 5 Aces
• Brooke Donahue - 7 Digs
• Dierdre Carney - 1 Block

NOTEWORTHY

• Natalie Garcia (New Haven, Conn.) had her first kill of her career against John Jay.

UP NEXT

The Falcons host the University of Hartford on Wednesday, September 11th at 7 p.m. in The Nest.