Volleyball Splits Tri-Match to Conclude Season
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | T | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Albertus Magnus (13-17,3-10) | 25 | 22 | 16 | 25 | 10 | 2 |
|
Mitchell (8-16,4-9) | 12 | 25 | 25 | 23 | 15 | 3 |
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | T | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Johnson & Wales (RI) (18-11,12-2) | 25 | 25 | 25 | 3 |
|
Mitchell (9-16,5-9) | 18 | 13 | 18 | 0 |
NEW LONDON, Conn. – The Mitchell College women's volleyball team saw their season come to an end on Saturday afternoon following a split of a Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) tri-match at the Yarnall Athletic Center.
The Mariners began the day with five-set marathon victory over Albertus Magnus College, before falling in straight sets to Johnson & Wales University.
Senior outside hitter Allison Blum (Garden Grove, Cali.) capped her Mitchell career on a high note, racking up 24 kills and 26 digs across the two matches. Blum finishes her time in New London second in the Division III era of the program in kills and digs with 659 and 928 respectively, and ranks first all-time in matches played (93), sets played (322), and service aces (167). Additionally, with 17 combined kills on the afternoon, Genna Hyde (Cypress, TX) wraps up her freshman campaign with 283 kills, the second most in a single season in program history.
The Mariners started slow during their first match of the day, dropping the opening set 25-12. Mitchell then rebounded to win the second set 25-22 and the third 25-16, before the Falcons kept their hopes alive by edging the Mariners 25-23 to force a deciding fifth set.
The final set opened with Mitchell scoring the first two points, as Allison Blum and Genna Hyde each picked up a kill. A kill by Majo Pelaez tied the score at 3-3 shortly after, but back to back kills by the Mariners pushed them ahead by two. An attack error by Mitchell trimmed their lead to one, but that was as close as Albertus would get for the remainder of the set, as the home squad sealed the victory with Blum and Hyde again recording back to back kills.
Freshman Genna Hyde recorded her ninth double-double of the season with 14 kills and 16 digs, while Blum also notched a double-double, finishing with 12 kills and 14 digs. Junior libero Julia Lent (Miller Place, N.Y.) tallied 29 assists, while sophomore Kiersten Veensta (Three Rivers, Mich.) handed out 31 assists in the win.
Majo Pelaez paced the Albertus offensive attack with 20 kills. Amanda Zdru was credited with 35 defensive digs, and Shalese Gordon notched a match-high 37 assists.
Facing a strong Wildcats squad, the Mariners were unable to find footing in their second match of the afternoon, falling by set scores of 25-18, 25-13, and 25-18. Mitchell leapt out to a 15-9 lead in the first set and a 6-2 lead in the third set, but each time JWU countered and powered ahead.
Blum had 12 kills and 12 digs for Mitchell, while Julia Lent finished with 11 digs, and senior Crystal Gangi (New Fairfield, Conn.) led the team with 10 assists.
Peyton Oliver tallied nine kills and nine digs for JWU, while Sierra Nausieda collected 25 digs, and Olivia Immel handed out 21 assists in the win.
The Mariners finish the year with an overall record of 9-17, including a 5-10 mark in conference play.
