NEW HAVEN, Conn. - The Albertus Magnus College women's volleyball team won both ends of a tri-match, rallying from a one set deficit to beat Elms in five sets in a Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) match before sweeping Old Westbury, 3-0 in the second match.

Majo Pelaez (Armenia, Colombia) had 19 kills in the first match and 10 in the second match. She also had seven aces against Old Westbury. Alyssa Valentine (Bristol, Conn.) had 17 assists, including 15 in the final two sets against Elms. Paula Matheus (Tunja Boyaca, Colombia) had five blocks and six kills against Elms. Nathalie Wallace (Rocky Hill, Conn.) had 10 kills on the day and Nyanna Richards (Bridgeport, Conn.) had nine kills through the two matches. Shalese Gordon (Bridgeport, Conn.) had 36 assists in total on the day.

THE BASICS

MATCH 1: Albertus Magnus 3 | Elms 2

MATCH 2: Albertus Magnus 3 | Old Westbury 2

MATCH 1

SET 1: Albertus 25 | Elms 23

SET 2: Elms 25 | Albertus 10

SET 3: Elms 25 | Albertus 12

SET 4: Albertus 25 | Elms 19

SET 5: Albertus 15 | Elms 13

RECORDS: Albertus (7-8, 2-4 GNAC) | Elms (1-15, 1-5 GNAC)

BOX

HOW IT HAPPENED

• The first set featured six lead changes as no one was able to take a larger lead than four points, which Elms did on two different occasions. With Albertus trailing 15-11 an ace from Matheus and  two kills from Pelaez and one from Richards put the Falcons up 17-15. A 6-1 run followed from Elms to give the Blazers a 21-18 lead after back-to-back kills from Quiana Gibbs. However, kills from Richards and Matheus made it a 22-22 set before Gibbs gave Elms the lead back with a kill. The Falcons then finished the set with a bang as they scored the final three points, including two kills from Pelaez to take the 1-0 lead in the match. Pelaez had seven kills in the set. Matheus and Richards had two.
• Albertus briefly held a one-point lead twice early in the second set, two aces from Victoria Solis of Elms put the Blazers up, 8-4. The Falcons got back to within 8-5 after a kill from Pelaez, but Elms took control the rest of the way to tie the match at 1-1.
• The Falcons never led in the third set as the Blazers scored the first six points. Albertus never got closer than five points the rest of the set as Solis had five kills and an ace and Jaylen Holman had two aces for Elms. Alexys Signor (North Haven, Conn.) and Matheus each had an ace in the set for Albertus.
• In the fourth set, Albertus rallied to tie the match as the Falcons had 12 kills and three aces as a team. With the set tied at 16-16, kills from Emma Fallon (Harwinton, Conn.) and Wallace helped give Albertus a 20-16 lead. Elms got back to within two points, but a kill from Signor and an ace and kill from Pelaez put Albertus back up 23-18. A kill from Joismar Aviles (Hatillo, Puerto Rico) and an error from Elms gave Albertus the set four win as the teams headed to a decisive fifth set.
• Albertus came out of the gates hot in the fifth set, jumping out to a 9-2 lead as three kills from Fallon and two from Pelaez gave them the early advantage. Elms got back to within 9-6 that included two kills from Alejandra Marin. Albertus took a 12-8 lead, but the Blazers knotted the set back up, 13-13. An error from Elms gave the Falcons the one point lead and a kill from Pelaez gave Albertus the dramatic victory. Valentine had seven assists in the final set.

LEADERS

Albertus

• Majo Pelaez - 19 Kills
• Alyssa Valentine and Shalese Gordon - 17 Assists
• Paula Matheus and Alexys Signor - 2 Aces
• Amanda Zdru - 17 Digs
• Paula Matheus - 5 Blocks

Elms

• Quiana Gibbs - 10 Kills
• Jaylen Holman - 31 Assists
• Victoria Solis and Alejandra Marin - 4 Aces
• Jaylen Holman - 15 Digs
• Francesca Dirienzo - 2 Blocks

NOTEWORTHY

• Albertus has three five set wins on the season.
• Valentine's 17 assists were a career-high.

MATCH 2

SET 1: Albertus 25 | Old Westbury 18

SET 2: Albertus 25 | Old Westbury 20

SET 3: Albertus 25 | Old Westbury 21

RECORDS: Albertus (8-8) | Old Westbury (3-7)

BOX

HOW IT HAPPENED

• Albertus jumped out to a 13-4 lead, with four of the points coming via an ace as Natalie Garcia (New Haven, Conn.) had two and Pelaez and Signor each had one. The Falcons then extended their lead to 17-6 behind kills from Wallace, Signor and Matheus. Elms scored six straight points to reduce its deficit but a kill and ace from Valentine helped push Albertus back up 20-12. Elms did not get any closer than four points the rest of the way as Albertus took a 1-0 match lead.
• The Blazers led 12-4 in the second set until six straight points including two aces and a kill from Pelaez and a kill from Wallace and Richards made it a 12-10 game. After tying the game four separate times without taking the lead, the Falcons finally broke through as two straight kills from Wallace turned a 19-19 game into a 21-19 lead for Albertus. The Falcons never relinquished the lead as Richards had two kills in the final four points of the set. Albertus finished with 15 kills in the second set.
• Albertus took a 10-5 lead in the third set as Pelaez had three aces and a kill and Yarieshka Sierra (Hartford, Conn.) had one kill early on. The Falcons led 18-13 before two aces from Jonangeliz Rodriguez of Elms cut the Albertus lead to 18-17. Albertus never relinquished the lead as Matheus, Wallace and Pelaez each had a kill for the final three points of the match.

LEADERS

Albertus

• Majo Pelaez - 10 Kills
• Shalese Gordon - 19 Assists
• Majo Pelaez - 7 Aces
• Alexys Signor - 10 Digs
• Nyanna Richards - 1 Block

Old Westbury

• Stephanie Maser - 9 Kills
• Mariana Gamez  and Geanelle Sam - 9 Assists
• Stephanie Velez - 4 Aces
• Stephanie Maser and Mariana Gamez - 5 Digs
• Geanelle Sam and Nicole Zugnoni - 1 Block

NOTEWORTHY

• Albertus has five three-set wins on the season.
• Albertus is now 4-0 all-time against Old Westbury.
• The seven kills from Pelaez were a career-high.

UP NEXT

Albertus goes on the road to face MCLA in a non-conference match on Tuesday, October 8 at 6 p.m.