BOSTON, Mass. - The Albertus Magnus College volleyball team split a Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) tri-match, defeating Norwich University, 3-1 before falling to Simmons, 3-0.

Majo Pelaez (Armenia, Colombia) had a career-high 12 aces to go with 11 kills against Norwich Shalese Gordon (Bridgeport, Conn.) had a team-high 14 assists against Norwich. Da'Veona Parker (New Haven, Conn.) had a career-high 22 digs against Norwich.

THE BASICS

MATCH 1: Albertus 3 | Norwich 1

MATCH 2: Simmons 3 | Albertus 0

MATCH 1 vs. Simmons

SET 1: Albertus 25 | Norwich 19

SET 2: Albertus 25 | Norwich 11

SET 3: Norwich 25 | Albertus 21

SET 4: Albertus 25 | Norwich 18

BOX

RECORDS: (Albertus (13-11, 4-5 GNAC) | Norwich (1-19, 0-10 GNAC)

HOW IT HAPPENED

• The Falcons never trailed in the first set, opening up a 15-9 lead early on behind two aces by Pelaez and two kills by Naomi Batalla (New Haven, Conn.)and one each by Sophie Cseszko (Grapevine, TX), Yarieshka Sierra (Hartford, Conn.) and Paula Matheus (Boyaca, Colombia). The Cadets never got closer than four points the rest of the way as Pelaez finished with five kills and three aces in the first frame.
• Albertus blew away Norwich in the second set, taking a 19-4 lead and never trailing. Pelaez had nine aces and two kills in the set. Albertus led by as much as 16 points in the set.
• Norwich battled back in the third set to make it a 2-1 match after finishing with a 5-1 run to win 25-21. Taylor Rae Lawing had an ace and Bella Belinda Ray had a kill and an ace in the final stretch to give Norwich the set. Jazmin Taboas Negron had five kills and Matheus, four kills in the set for Albertus. Gordon had seven assists and Savanna Smith (New Haven), four. Parker had nine digs.
• In the final set, the Falcons jumped out to a 9-3 lead as Nyanna Richards (Bridgeport, Conn.) and Cseszko each had two kills in the opening 12 points. With the Falcons holding a 9-7 lead, they went on an 8-3 run to take a 17-10 as Matheus added two more kills. The Cadets got within two points at 17-15, but Albertus scored the next four points as Smith added an ace to take a 21-15 lead. The Falcons pulled away, ending with an ace by Cseszko.

LEADERS

Albertus

Majo Pelaez - 11 Kills

Shalese Gordon - 14 Assists

Majo Pelaez - 12 Aces

Da'Veona Parker - 22 Digs

Sophie Cseszko - 2 Blocks

Norwich

Taylor Rae Lawing - 8 Kills

Autumn Parkhurst - 20 Assists

Bella Belldina Ray and Charlotte Johnson - 2 Aces

Autumn Parkhurst - 13 Digs

MATCH 2 vs. Simmons

SET 1: Simmons 25 | Albertus 17

SET 2: Simmons 25 | Albertus 18

SET 3: Simmons 25 | Albertus 13

BOX

RECORDS: Albertus (13-12, 4-6 GNAC) | Simmons (7-16, 6-4 GNAC)

HOW IT HAPPENED

• Albertus scored the first two points of the first set thanks to an ace and kill from Pelaez. Simmons took a 6-3 lead, including three straight kills by Addison Evans. The Falcons closed the gap after a kill from Gordon, but five straight points from Simmons gave the Sharks a 14-9 lead. Albertus did not get any closer than four points the rest of the way in the set. Matheus and Pelaez each finished with two aces in the set.
• Two errors by Simmons early on once again gave Albertus a 2-0 lead, but an 8-1 run by the Sharks that included three kills by Hannah Pridgeon made it an 8-3 set. Albertus rallied to tie the set, 9-9 as Negron and Matheus each had a kill while Gordon had an ace. Simmons scored the next three points and Albertus was unable to tie or take the lead the rest of the way. The Sharks finished on a 9-4 run. Gordon had two kills, three assists and two aces in the set.
• It was all Simmons in the third set, jumping out to an 18-4 lead as the Sharks had six aces during the first 22 points. Albertus never got within single digits the rest of the way. Five different players had an ace in the set for Albertus.

LEADERS

Albertus

Majo Pelaez - 5 Kills

Shalese Gordon - 9 Assists

Paula Matheus - 3 Kills

Shalese Gordon and Jazmine Taboas Negron - 5 Digs

Simmons

Addison Evans - 12 Kills

Keagan Serverius - 16 Assists

Hannah Pridgeon - 4 Aces

Carolina Rodriguez - 19 Digs

Kate Petrosso and Iliana Diaz - 1 Block

NOTEWORTHY

Pelaez notched her 800th career kill against Norwich.

Matheus is just four blocks away from becoming the program's all-time leader in blocks.

UP NEXT

Albertus heads to Dean to take on the Bulldogs in a GNAC match on Wednesday, October 29th at 7 p.m.