NEW HAVEN, Conn. -The Albertus Magnus College women's volleyball team swept Anna Maria College in the first match and fell in three sets to Emmanuel College in the second match as the Falcons split a Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) tri-match on Friday evening.

Majo Pelaez (Armenia, Colombia) had 14 kills in the first match and Shalese Gordon (Bridgeport, Conn.) had 14 assists in the win over Anna Maria.

The Falcons now have three GNAC wins on the season, the most since 2018.

THE BASICS

MATCH 1: Albertus Magnus 3 | Anna Maria 0

MATCH 2: Emmanuel 3 | Albertus Magnus 0

MATCH 1

SET 1: Albertus 25 | Anna Maria 23

SET 2: Albertus 25 | Anna Maria 18

SET 3: Albertus 25 | Anna Maria 23

BOX

RECORDS: Albertus (12-11, 3-6 GNAC) | Anna Maria (1-21, 0-7 GNAC)

HOW IT HAPPENED

• In a tight first set, the Falcons and AMCATS split the first 14 points of the match as Pelaez had three kills early on. Gordon and Nyanna Richards (Bridgeport, Conn.) also had one and Matheus had an ace during the team's opening seven points.Pelaez would then notch kills on the next two points to take a 9-7 lead and would hold the lead until Anna Maria came back from a small three point deficit behund a kill and two aces from Jana hunt to take a brief 15-14. Albertus responded with a 7-1 run behind two more kills from Richards to take a 21-16. Anna Maria then responded with the next five points to tie the match before Richards and Pelaez each had a kill to push the Falcons back up 24-21. The AMCATS got back within 24-23, but a kill from Wallace gave Albertus the first set win.
• Albertus jumped out to a 9-3 lead in the second set as Da'Veona Parker (New Haven, Conn.) had two aces early on. The AMCATS got back to within 15-13 after an ace from Gia Hall and a kill from Hunt, but Albertus scored the next four points, two on Kills from Pelaez. Anna Maria got to within two again at 19-17, but the Falcons finished on a 6-1 run as Gordon had two kills and Matheus and Pelaez each had one to help Albertus take a 2-0 lead in the match.
• Anna Maria took a 5-1 lead early on in the third set behind two aces from Hunt, but the Falcons followed with ab 8-1 run as Joismar Aviles (Hatillo, Puerto Rico) had two kills. Anna Maria scored the next four points until the Falcons responded with the next five, including another ace from Parker and a block from Wallace. Albertus took a 16-12 lead on a kill from Yarelis Torres (East Haven, Conn.), but Anna Maria scored the next six to regain the lead at 18-16. Anna Maria led 20-19, but Albertus scored four of the next five points, the last two coming on aces from Matheus to take a 24-21 lead. Once again, Anna Maria made it a 24-23 game, but Pelaez closed out the match with an emphatic kill for the Falcons.

LEADERS

Albertus

Majo Pelaez - 14 Kills

Shalese Gordon - 14 Assists

Amanda Zdru - 13 Digs

Paula Matheus - 6 Aces

Paula Matheus - 1 Block

Anna Maria

Jana Hunt - 7 Kills

Gia Hall - 13 Assists

Annie Taylor - 15 Digs

Annie Taylor and Jana Hunt - 4 Aces

Ella Moon and Jana Hunt - 2 Blocks

NOTEWORTHY

The Falcons surpassed their GNAC win total from last season.

The Falcons are now 9-8 all-time against Anna Maria, including wins in the last three matches.

Richards finished with seven kills, which were a career-high.

MATCH 2

SET 1: Emmanuel 25 | Albertus 15

SET 2: Emmanuel 25 | Albertus 18

SET 3: Emmanuel 26 | Albertus 24

BOX

RECORDS: Albertus (12-12, 3-7 GNAC) | Emmanuel (16-6, 7-3 GNAC)

HOW IT HAPPENED

• Emmanuel took a 7-2 lead early on and never trailed in the first set, but the Falcons were able to make it close at 14-13 sparked by an ace from Aviles. However, the Saints scored 11 of the last 13 points including two kills from Isabella Marquez to give them a 1-0 lead in the match. Maruqez had six kills in the set for the Saints. Pelaez had two kills in the set for the Falcons.
• The Saints took a 7-2 lead again in the second set, but the Falcons went on an 8-1 run to take the lead at 10-8. The Saints had six errors during the stretch. Emmanuel took the lead back and took a 16-11 lead as Paula Tangguilig had back-to-back aces. An ace by Gordon and two kills from Pelaez helped trim the Albertus deficit to 17-16, but EMmanuel scored the next six points, eventually leading to a 2-0 match lead.
• Albertus jumped out to a 6-1 lead as Gordon had two aces early on. The Saints tied the set at 9-9, but the Falcons went on an 8-4 run as Gordon had two kills and Wallace and Yarieshka Sierra each had one to make it a 17-13 Albertus lead. The teams tied five more times in the set as the Falcons were able to stave off match point and tie it at 24-24, but the Saints scored the last two points to take the match.

LEADERS

Albertus

Majo Pelaez - 4 Kills

Shalese Gordon - 11 Assists

Amanda Zdru (Stratford, Conn.) - 10 Digs

Shalese Gordon - 3 Aces

Shalese Godon and Nathalie Wallace - 3 Blocks

Emmanuel

Lettia Bossou - 11 Kills 

Kason Huynh - 29 Assists

Paula Tangulig - 8 Digs

Paula Tanguilig - 2 Aces

Lettia Bossou - 5 Blocks 

NOTEWORTHY

It was Gordon's third game with at least three blocks this season.

UP NEXT

The Falcons head to Fitchburg State for a non-conference game on Tuesday, October 29 at 6 p.m.