CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – After splitting the first two sets, Mount Ida College claimed victories in the final two of the night to spoil Lesley University's home opener with a 3-1 (25-16, 20-25, 25-17, 25-10) decision at the Nicholas Athletic Center. The win pushes the Mustangs to 1-4 on the season while the Lynx drop to 0-5.
The Mustangs were powered by a game-high 16 kills from junior James Ames (West Hartford, Conn.) while sophomore Peter Griffenkranz (Deer Park, N.Y.) slammed home 12 kills to go with his team-high 10 kills. Junior Dennis Miranda (Havana, Cuba) added seven kills and eight digs and classmate Jimmy Wessel (DeKalb, Ill.) set up the visitors with match-best 38 assists on the night.
Sophomore Tyler Burns (Newton, Pa.) paced the hosts with a season-high 12 kills and ten digs. Junior Jess Cherry (Lancaster, Pa.) chipped in with eight kills and six digs for the Lynx while sophomore Mitchel Ulacco (Winchester, Mass.) dished out a season-high 23 assists. Junior C. Jay Sutton (Billerica, Mass.) added ten digs on the defensive side while freshman Patrick O'Connor (Easton, Conn.) and sophomore Erik Johansen (West Harrison, N.Y.) each aided the offense with two kills apiece.
Mount Ida held a slim 14-10 lead in the middle of the first set before they gave themselves some breathing room with a 7-2 spurt that extending their lead to 21-12 before rolling to the 25-16 set win. Ames was on fire from the get-go as he accounted for six kills while swinging at an impressive .364 clip in the opening set to pace the visitors attack.
The Lynx would tie the match at 1-1 in the second set. Leading 6-4, the Lynx blew the set open with an 11-3 run that was powered by two kills apiece from Burns and Cherry to give the hosts a 17-7 edge. The Mustangs would employ a 12-4 run to bring themselves to within three, 22-19, but it was too little, too late as the Lynx closed out the set 25-20.
The Mustangs would hold a narrow 15-12 lead in the third before scoring five of the next seven points and closing out the set on a 10-5 streak. Griffenkranz had two kills during the run and led the Mustangs with four in the set.
Mount Ida's momentum would carry over into the fourth set as they rolled to a 25-10 set win to take the match 3-1. Ames and Griffenkranz combined for seven kills in the set while the Mustangs hit .222 as a team in the final set.
The Lynx will return to the court on Saturday when they travel to Emerson College at 4:00p in a match that was rescheduled from this past Tuesday due to the weather while the Mustangs will be back in action on Tuesday, February 3rd when they host Emerson College at 6:00p.