BOSTON, Mass. - The Albertus Magnus College volleyball team split a tri-match on Saturday, falling to Emmanuel College 3-0 in the team's Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) opener before sweeping Lesley, 3-0 in a non-conference match.
Majo Pelaez (Armenia, Colombia) had 13 kills on the day, including a team-high eight against Emmanuel. Sophie Cseszko (Grapevine, TX) had 11 kills on the day, including a team-high eight kills against Lesley. Paula Matheus (Tunja-Boyaca, Colombia) had seven kills and five aces against Lesley. Shalese Gordon (Bridgeport, Conn.) had seven assists in each of the matches.
THE BASICS
MATCH 1: Emmanuel 3 | Albertus 0
MATCH 2: Albertus 3 | Lesley 0
MATCH 1 vs. Emmanuel
SET 1: Emmanuel 25 | Albertus 21
SET 2: Emmanuel 25 | Albertus 9
SET 3: Emmanuel 25 | Albertus 22
RECORDS: Albertus (3-6, 0-1 GNAC) | Emmanuel (9-1, 1-0 GNAC)
HOW IT HAPPENED
- The Falcons had a 10-6 lead in the first set, including a kill and ace from Pelaez early on. The Saints went on a 12-2 run to take an 18-12 lead as they took advantage of six errors by the Falcons. Albertus cut the deficit to 18-17 after an error by Emmanuel, but the Saints pulled away and held on for the set one win Pelaez had three kills in the first set to go with four digs and an ace.
- After holding a brief 2-0 lead in the second set, Emmanuel took control, taking the lead for good after a kill from Letitia Bossou to make it 7-6. The kill started a 19-3 run to finish out the set for Emmanuel as it took a 2-0 lead in the match.
- The third set saw 10 ties and six lead changes as no one could get a larger lead than three points. Albertus took a 21-19 lead on a kill from Pelaez, but the Saints scored six of the final seven points to take the match, including another kill from Bossou. Pelaez had four kills in thet set, while Cseszko had two. Gordon had seven assists.
LEADERS
Albertus
Majo Pelaez - 8 Kills
Shalese Gordon - 7 Assists
Majo Pelaez and Isabella Leatherman - 1 Ace
Da'Veona Parker and Majo Pelaez - 7 Digs
Paula Matheus and Emma Fallon - 3 Blocks
Emmanuel
Scheala Nielsen - 13 Kills
Kason Huynh - 18 Assists
Frances Ramos Rodriguez - 2 Aces
Kason Huynh - 9 Digs
Madison Sherman - 6 Blocks
MATCH 2 vs. Lesley
Albertus 3 | Lesley 0
SET 1: Albertus 25 | Lesley 14
SET 2: Albertus 25 | Lesley 23
SET 3: Albertus 25 | Lesley 15
RECORDS: Albertus (4-6) | Lesley (0-8)
HOW IT HAPPENED
- The Falcons never trailed in the first set, scoring the first three points, including two kills from Cseszko and one from Emma Fallon (Harwinton, Conn.), all on assists from Gordon. The Falcons increased their lead to 12-4 to take control as Pelaez had four kills during the early run. Lesley got to within five points at 15-10 after two straight aces by Korinne Hall-Johnson, but the Falcnos scored the next five, including three aces by Matheus to take a 20-10 lead, eventually leading to the set one win.
- In a much closer second set that featured 11 ties and four lead changes, no team took a lead larger than three points. With the Falcons leading, 19-16, Lesley scored the next four points, including a kill from Rayann Fatahi and an ace by Hall-Johnson. Albertus rebounded with an ace and kill by Alyssa Valentine (Bristol, Conn.) and a kill from Nyanna Richards (Bridgeport, Conn.) to make it a 23-21 game. Lesley crept back to within one point two more times, but kills by Pelaez and Richards gave Albertus the 2-0 match lead. Matheus had six kills in the set and Richards had four. Sierra had two kills and eight digs in the set.
- Similar to the first set, the Falcons never trailed in the third set, starting the set on a 15-4 run that included aces by Naomi Batalla (New Haven, Conn.), Natalie Garcia (New Haven, Conn.) and Odalys Solorzano (West Haven, Conn.). Lesley did not get closer than seven points the rest of the way as the Falcons closed out the match with another ace by Solorzano and a kill from Alondra Acosta (Guayama, Puerto Rico). Cseszko had three kills in the set, while Acosta and Sierra each had two.
LEADERS
Albertus
Sophie Cseszko - 8 Kills
Savanna Smith - 17 Assists
Paula Matheus - 5 Aces
Yarieshka Sierra - 11 Digs
Paula Matheus and Alyssa Valentine - 2 Blocks
Lesley
Abbie Price - 7 Kills
Mariah Febo - 13 Assists
Korinne Hall-Johnson - 5 Aces
Korinne Hall-Johnson - 17 Digs
UP NEXT
The Falcons host Elms on Wednesday, September 24 at 7 p.m. in a GNAC match.
