MUSTANGS SPIKE PRIDE 3-1

WESTON, Mass. – Mount Ida College junior outside hitter James Ames (West Hartford, Conn.) recorded a match-high 23 kills as the Mustangs defeated Regis College 3-1 (25-21, 13-25, 25-22, 25-19) in non-conference men's volleyball action. With the victory, the Mustangs improve to 2-8 and with the loss the Pride drop to 2-8.

Mount Ida took the first set 25-21 behind five kills from James Ames, while Peter Griffenkranz (Deer Park, N.Y.) added three of his own. The Mustangs took an early lead at 6-3, before Evan Stone (Stockton, Calif.) gave the Pride a short-lived 12-11 lead with a kill. The teams traded points until Mount Ida scored eight of the final 14 points in the game to take the opening set.

Set two was all Regis as Ryan Conte (Oxnard, Calif.) knocked down seven kills in the set and the Pride hit .464 in the game. Brett Krahl (Santa Clarita, Calif.), Marcos Aguirre (Norwalk, Calif.), and Josiah Roque (Oxnard, Calif.) each added two kills apiece as the Pride took the second game, 25-13.

Mount Ida responded in game three, taking an early 9-4 lead following a Dennis Miranda (Havana, Cuba) block. The Pride rallied to tie the game at 9-9, but the Mustangs took back control of the set building a 16-11 advantage after Jimmy Wessel (DeKalb, Illinois) made a kill. The Pride never gave up as they reduced the Mustangs lead to one, 21-20 after a service error, but Mount Ida weathered the storm as James Ames recorded three of the final four points to take the crucial third set.

The Pride scored the first point of the fourth set, but the Mustangs scored the next five with kills from Jimmy Wessel and James Ames to push the lead to 5-1. The teams kept trading points as the Pride cut the lead to 8-6 after a block by Ryan Husher (Camarillo, Calif.). Over the next few serves the Mustangs built a 12-7 lead but the Pride scored three straight points, thanks to two errors and a Josiah Roque block. Both squads exchanged points and the Pride found themselves down by one after Ryan Conte made a kill. The Pride would knot up the score twice during the final moments of the game, but they could never secure the lead as Mount Ida would take the fourth set and the match 3-1.

Pacing the offensive attack for the Mustangs was Jimmy Wessel who handed out a match-high 35 assists. Peter Griffenkranz led the Mount Ida defense with a match-high 11 digs while also recording nine kills, and two blocks. Leading the Pride offense was Ryan Conte who recorded nine kills and five digs. Brandon Tordoff (Coventry, R.I.) added eight kills, five digs, two blocks and Kerby Billy (Dorchester, Mass.) had seven kills, and one block. Ryan Husher dished out 33 assists and Renato Rosas (Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.), Jon Fuentes (Downey, Calif.) and Husher recorded a team-high seven digs apiece.

The Mustangs return to the court on Wednesday the 18th when they welcome #12 MIT to campus for a 6:00 p.m. showdown with the Engineers, while the Pride return to action on Thursday the 19th when they travel to Emerson with game-time slated for 6:00 p.m.