Nighhawks Nip AMCATS in Men’s Volleyball

Paxton, Mass. – Anna Maria College dropped a 3-0 decision to visiting Newbury College on Monday night in non-conference men's volleyball action. Newbury held off an AMCAT squad with set scores of 25-15, 25-12, and 25-19. With the win the Nighthawks improve to 4-15, while the AMCATS fall to 1-8 on the season.

Senior Jonathan Gallardo (Marlboro, Mass.) was solid for Anna Maria, racking up a team-high 8 kills. Peter Griffenkranz (Deer Park, N.Y.) picked up 12 digs and four kills while Ty Discoe (Pittsfield, Mass.) added seven kills. Freshman Michael Gaudelli (Hicksville, N.Y.) dished out 19 assists.

Newbury's Jake Powell (Salinas, Calif.) posted a match-high 12 kills and Chi Yin Li (Framingham, Mass.) added nine kills, eight digs and two blocks. Setter Patrick Robidoux (Barrington, RI) handed out 30 assists, had four digs and five kills in the victory.

Newbury hit .354 as a team to .080 for Anna Maria and finished tops in kills (39-28), assists (37-24), aces (9-2), digs (31-30) and blocks (8-4)

Anna Maria took a quick 3-0 lead in the opening set as Gaudelli held serve. Newbury quickly answered and the game was tied at 4-4. Tied at 8-8, Newbury ran off a 7-2 run to build a 15-9 edge. Back-to-back kills from Gaudelli and Dylan Copeland (Haverhill, Mass.) closed the gap to 15-11. Ahead 23-15 Newbury would capitalize on an AMCAT error and a set-closing ace from Billy Stephen for the 25-15 final.

Down 2-0 in games, Anna Maria put together their best effort of the night in set three, which featured nine ties. Notched at nine apiece, Anna Maria would forge ahead 10-9 on a Nighthawk error. Newbury would score the next three to lead again, 12-10. Anna Maria answered with a pair of kills from Ty Discoe to level the game at 12-12. Tied at 13-13, Newbury scored on three straight possessions forcing an AMCAT timeout. Trailing 20-15, Anna Maria reeled off three consecutive to cut the deficit to 20-18, however it was as close as the AMCATS could get and Newbury would outscore AMC 5-1 down the stretch for the three set sweep.

Anna Maria is back in action tomorrow when they host Rivier University at 7:00 p.m. Newbury visits Lesley University on Thursday evening at 8 p.m.