NEW HAVEN, Conn. - The Albertus Magnus College women's volleyball team lost both ends of a tri-match to St. Joseph's (Long Island) and Centenary (N.J.) in four sets on Saturday afternoon in The Nest in non-conference play.

Majo Pelaez (Armenia, Colombia) had 26 kills between the two matches with five aces and 19 digs. Shalese Gordon (Bridgeport, Conn.) had 35 assists and seven kills on the day, including five kills against SJLI. Sophie Cseszko (Magnolia, TX) had 18 kills on the day, including a career-high 10 against SJLI. Nyanna Richards (Bridgeport, Conn.) notched 12 kills.

Yarieshka Sierra (Hartford, Conn.) had eight kills and nine digs against Centenary.

THE BASICS

MATCH 1: SJLI 3 | Albertus 1

MATCH 2: Centenary 3 | Albertus 1

MATCH 1 vs. SJLI

SET 1: SJLI 25 | Albertus 18

SET 2: SJLI 25 | Albertus 19

SET 3: Albertus 25 | SJLI 17

SET 4: SJLI 25 |Albertus 18

BOX

HOW IT HAPPENED

• The teams were tied six times throughout the first 14 points of the first set, the final time at 7-7. During the early part of the first set, Pelaezo had two kills and Gordon, Cseszko and Richards each had one. The Golden Eagles began to pull away, taking a 17-10 lead behind two aces and two kills by Luciana D'Ambrosio. The Falcons never got closer than six points the rest of the way as SJLI took a 1-0 lead in the match. Pelaez had four of the 11 kills for the Falcons in the set, while Cseszko and Richards each had three.
• SJLI never trailed in the second set, jumping out to a 13-6 lead behind two kills each from Alison Tsororos and Sarah Hansen. The Golden Eagles led by as much as eight points in the second set. Richards had three kills in the set to pace the Falcons. Pelaez had two kills and an ace in the set.
• Albertus took set three after pulling away from a 12-12 tie halfway through. The run started with two kills by Gordon and one by Cseszko, Pelaez and Paula Matheus (Tunja-Boyaca, Colombia) to make it a 21-14 lead for the Falcons. SJLI got back within five at 21-16, but commited errors on three of the last five points to give Albertus the set win.
• The Golden Eagles never trailed once again in the fourth set, taking an 11-6 lead behind five kills from Nina Vanderhoof early on. The Falcons trailed by as much as six points during the set, but battled back to make it a 20-17. SJLI had two more aces in the set and were able to put the match away. Pelaez had three of the eight kills in the set for Albertus.

LEADERS

Albertus

Majo Pelaez - 10 Kills

Shalese Gordon -19 Assists

Majo Pelaez - 12 Digs

Majo Pelaez - 2 Aces

Sophie Cseszko - 4 Blocks

SJLI

Nina Vanderhoof - 13 Kills

Lauren Goss - 41 Assists

Alison Tsororos - 16 Digs

Luciana D'Ambrosio - 3 Aces

Three Tied - 1 Block

MATCH 2

Centenary 3 | Albertus 1

SET 1: Centenary 25 | Albertus 13

SET 2: Centenary 25 | Albertus 21

SET 3: Albertus 26 | Centenary 24

SET 4: Centenary 25 | Albertus 16

BOX

HOW IT HAPPENED

• Richards and Pelaez had kills to give Albertus a 2-0 lead early in set one, but it was all Cyclones after that, taking a 13-6 lead thanks to four aces. Albertus scored the next three points to cut the deficit to four points, but the Cyclones rattled off the next six to make it a 10-point game. Two kills by Pelaez and one by Richards cut the deficit back to seven, but the Cyclones scored six of the last seven points to take a 1-0 lead in the match.
• A more competitive second set saw seven ties through the first 34 points as Pelaez had three kills during the stretch while Gordon and Sierra had two. With the game tied at 17, the Cyclones scored the next three points on jills by Jenniger Thistlewait and Cameron Fulcher. A service error by Centenary and an ace by Gordon got Albertus back to within one point, but the Cyclones were able to hold off the late rally to take a 2-0 lead in the match.
• Albertus fell behind 8-3 early in the third behind five aces by Rey Bennett of Centenary, but a furious rally, including kills by Sierra and Matheus and an ace by Pelaez got Albertus back to within one. The Cyclones took a 21-15 lead and looked poiseed for a sweep, but two more aces by Pelaez made it a 21-19 set. A kill from Sierra gave Albertus set point until the Cyclones got one back. However, Sierra and Pelaez both delivered with back-to-back kills to give Albertus the set, 26-24.
• Albertus took an early 3-2 lead in the fourth set after an ace by Da'Veona Parker (New Haven, Conn.), but a 10-3 run from the Cyclones, including four kills by Poppy Skjonnemand made it a 12-6 set. Albertus got within four points twice more, but two aces by Bennett to make it a 21-12 game, effectively putting the match away.

LEADERS

Albertus

Majo Pelaez - 15 Kills

Shalese Gordon -  16 Assists 

Yarieshka Sierra - 9 Digs

Majo Pelaez - 3 Aces

Sophie Cseszko  and Paula Matheus - 1 Block

Centenary

Poppy Skjonnemand - 16 Kills

Vanessa Pagano - 32 Assists

Rey Bennett - 17 Digs

Rey Bennett - 13 Aces

Gabriella Miller and Cameron Fulcher -  1 Block

NOTEWORTHY

Sierra's eight kills were a season-high.

UP NEXT

Albertus heads to Salem State for a non-conference road game on Tuesday, September 9th at 7 p.m.