WOMEN'S VOLLEYBALL OPENS GNAC PLAY WITH 3-0 WIN OVER MOUNT IDA

NEWTON, Mass. – The Emmanuel College women's volleyball team opened Great Northeast Athletic Conference play with a 3-0 (25-21, 25-10, 25-15) victory over Mount Ida College on Wednesday evening at the Mount Ida College Athletic Center. The Saints open GNAC play with a 1-0 mark and improve to 3-10 on the year while the loss drops the Mustangs to 6-6 overall and 0-1 in the GNAC.

Both squads got off to slow starts in the opening set as each team combined to hit a negative percentage from the floor. The Saints managed four less errors than the Mustangs which proved to be the difference at Emmanuel took the opening frame 25-21, despite collecting nine hitting errors.

EC regrouped during the intermission and came out strong to open the second set, taking a 7-1 lead behind the service game of sophomore setter Carly Church (Higganum, Conn.).  Mount Ida rolled off three straight points to make it 7-4 but Emmanuel answered with a 5-0 run to go ahead 12-4, coasting to the 25-10 win and 2-0 lead in the match as EC did not commit a single attacking error in the frame.

The Saints didn't allow the hosts to reset in the final set, racing ahead to another 7-1 lead to open the final set. Emmanuel held the hosts to a negative hitting percentage for the third consecutive stanza and wrapped up the sweep with a 25-15 win.

Sophomores Katharine Journeay (Hampton, N.H.) and Mary Shelow (Miami, Fla.) along with senior middle hitter Kaitlyn Atkinson (Brookline, N.H.) paced Emmanuel with five kills each. Journey also added 10 digs while senior libero Sarah Schemerhorn (Los Angeles, Calif.) collected 15 digs.

Mary Kate Reidy (Agawam, Mass.) led the way for the Mustangs with a match-high 12 kills while rookie setter Alexis Bell (Salem, Conn.) collected a double-double with 16 assists and 15 digs.

Both teams are back in action on Saturday, Sept. 24 as the Saints travel to University of Saint Joseph (CT) for a GNAC tri-match against Anna Maria College and the host Blue Jays at 1:00 PM & 3:00 PM. Mount Ida hosts Newbury College at 11:00 AM.