NEW LONDON, Conn. - The Albertus Magnus College volleyball team lost both ends of a Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) tri-match on Saturday to close out their regular season, falling to Mitchell in three sets before being swept by Johnson and Wales University (JWU).
Majo Pelaez (Armenia, Colombia) had 20 kills and 20 digs against Mitchell. Shalese Gordon (Bridgeport, Conn.) had 37 assists, 13 digs and three blocks in the first match and 18 assists against JWU. Paula Matheus (Tunja-Boyaca, Colombia) had five kills and five blocks against Mitchell, and Amanda Zdru (Stratford, Conn.) had 35 and 14 digs, respectively in the two matches.
THE BASICS
MATCH 1: Mitchell 3 | Albertus Magnus 2
MATCH 2: JWU 3 | Albertus Magnus 0
MATCH 1 vs. Mitchell
SET 1: Albertus 25 | Mitchell 12
SET 2: Mitchell 25 | Albertus 22
SET 3: Mitchell 25 | Albertus 16
SET 4: Albertus 25 | Mitchell 23
SET 5: Mitchell 15 | Albertus 10
RECORDS: Albertus (13-18 | 3-11 GNAC) | Mitchell (9-16 | 5-9 GNAC)
HOW IT HAPPENED
- Albertus never trailed in the first set after the teams tied briefly early on. With the set tied, 4-4, Pelaez had two kills and Emma Fallon (Harwinton, Conn.), one to put the Falcons ahead, 7-4. The Mariners didn't get any closer the rest of the way. The Falcons turned a 9-6 lead into a 15-6 lead thanks to five errors from Mitchell and a kill from Nathalie Wallace (Rocky Hill, Conn.). Later on in the set, kills by Fallon and Matheus effectively put the set away at 20-8. The Falcons finished the set on a 5-0 run. Pelaez had four kills in the set, while Wallace, Fallon and Matheus each had two. Gordon had nine of the team's 10 assists in the set.
- In the second set, the teams tied five times over the first 12 points as Joismar Aviles (Hatillo, Puerto Rico), Pelaez and Matheus had kills. The Mariners took their biggest lead of the set at 13-8 on a kill from Kiersten Veenstra. Albertus never let Mitchell pull away in the set and three times brought its deficit down to two points, the final time coming at 24-22. However, a kill from Genna Hyde gave the Mariners the set, which tied the match. Pelaez had five kills in the set for Albertus. Veenstra had a kill and two aces from Mitchell in the set.
- Mitchell scored the first four points of the third set and did not allow Albertus to get any closer than three points. Six different players had kills for the Mariners in the set, led by Allison Blum, who had four. Pelaez had three kills and an ace during the set, while Matheus and Gordon had two kills.
- The Falcons tied the match in the fourth set, which proved to be the most competitive of the bunch with seven ties and three lead changes. Two aces from Matheus early in the set put the Falcons up 5-3. They extended their lead to 10-7 with kills from Pelaez, Wallace, Matheus and Nyanna Richards (Bridgeport, Conn.). From there, the Mariners went on a 7-3 run to take the lead back at 14-13. With Mitchell leading 18-16, a kill from Yarieshka Sierra (Hartford, Conn.) had two attack errors and a bad set from the Mariners put the Falcons back ahead at 20-18. The two teams tied again at 20-20 and 22-22, but Sierra gave Albertus the lead for good with a kill and Pelaez ended the set with a kill to send the match to a decisive fifth set. Pelaez had five kills and an ace in the set. Sierra had two kills. Matheus had two aces and Gordon had 10 assists in the set.
- In the final set, Mitchell took the first three points before the Falcons answered with the next three as Pelaez had two kills and Richards, one. However, the Mariners went on a 7-2 run as Hyde had two aces and a kill to make it a 10-5 set. Albertus got back to within three at 13-10, but Allison Blum and Hyde each had a kill to end the match.
LEADERS
Albertus
Majo Pelaez - 20 Kills
Shalese Gordon - 37 Assists
Amanda Zdru - 35 Digs
Paula Matheus and Majo Pelaez - 2 Aces
Paula Matheus - 5 Blocks
Mitchell
Genna Hyde - 14 Kills
Kiersten Veenstra - 31 Assists
Genna Hyde - 16 Digs
Genna Hyde and Kiersten Veenstra - 4 Aces
Emily Rizzo and Kiersten Veenstra - 2 Blocks
NOTEWORTHY
Pelaez notched her 600th career kill.
The 20 kills for Pelaez were the second most in a match this season. She had 24 against Salem State on August 31.
Gordon's 37 assists were the second-most in a match this season. It was the ninth time she has had 30 or more assists in her career.
MATCH 2 vs. JWU
SET 1: JWU 25 | Albertus 11
SET 2: JWU 25 | Albertus 22
SET 3: JWU 25 | Albertus 12
RECORDS: Albertus (13-19, 3-12 GNAC) | JWU (18-11, 12-2 GNAC)
HOW IT HAPPENED
- The Wildcats took control in the first set, jumping out to a 14-1 lead behind five aces from Sierra Nausieda and two kills from Katelyn O'Brien. Albertus got its deficit down to 15-4 after two kills from Pelaez, but JWU was never threatened the rest of the way. Pelaez finished with two kills for the Falcons in the set, while Gordon had six assists.
- The Falcons scored the first two points of the second set, starting with an ace from Gordon. However, the Wildcats scored the next seven points to lead 7-2. The Falcons shrinked JWU's lead to 7-5 after kills from Fallon and Pelaez before the Wildcats went back up 14-7. Albertus then got to within one point on two different occasions, taking advantage of a bunch of errors from JWU and kills from Fallon, Aviles and Matheus to make it a 19-18 set. JWU was able to hold off the rally the rest of the way to go up 2-0 in the match. Matheus and Fallon each had three kills in the set. Bailey Koopman had four kills for JWU in the set.
- JWU scored the first three points of the third set and went up 10-4 through the first 14 points of the set. Albertus got to within four points one more time at 10-6, but an 11-3 run from JWU that included four aces from Drew Leonardis put the set out of reach at 21-9. Fallon had two kills for the Falcons in the final set.
LEADERS
Albertus
Emma Fallon - 6 Kills
Shalese Gordon - 18 Assists
Amanda Zdru - 14 Digs
Joismar Aviles and Shalese Gordon - 1 Ace
JWU
Bailey Koopman - 8 Kills
Olivia Immel - 14 Assists
Sierra Nausieda - 16 Digs
Sierra Nausieda - 5 Aces
Bailey Koopman - 3 Blocks
