New Paltz, N.Y. – The Mount Saint Mary College Women's Volleyball team began play at the New Paltz Hawks Invitational on Friday with a pair of non-conference losses. The Mount suffered a heartbreaking 25-20, 25-17, 16-25, 21-25, 9-15) loss to Alfred to start the tournament and wrapped up the first day with a 14-25, 14-25, 15-25 loss to Hamilton. Freshman Grace Riddle (Wantagh, N.Y.) had a strong day for the Mount with 20 kills over the two matches.
 
Alfred 3 – Mount Saint Mary 2
The Knights jumped out to a 2-0 lead in Friday's opener after totaling 21 kills over the first two sets. The Mount was then held to 21 kills over the final three frames against the Saxons and committed five more attack errors than Alfred over the deciding sets.
 
Riddle continued the strong start to her collegiate career against Alfred, putting away a team-high 15 kills and leading the way with 18 digs. She closed out an impressive all-around match with four service aces for the Mount and a block.
 
Senior Morgan Burke (Ringwood, N.J.) and junior Renee Hydo (Bethpage, N.Y.) each registered seven winners for the Mount with Hydo hitting .294 with a pair of aces and nine digs. Burke added one ace, two digs and a pair of blocks for the Knights.
 
Senior Emily Mazzurco (Middletown, N.Y.) handed out a team-high 24 assists for the Mount to go along with nine digs and eight kills, while Alyssa Barbara (Islip Terrace, N.Y.) lifted 16 digs for the Mount on the backline.
 
Alfred finished the win led by 10 kills from Rylee Russin who was the only Saxon in double-figures in the category. Sarah Raeman produced nine kills for Alfred and led all players with six service aces and five total blocks.
 
Sara Baty and Julia Fanning handed out 17 and 13 assists, respectively with Sarah Huzyk and Amber Smith posting 19 and 16 digs.
 
For the match, Mount Saint Mary held the advantage in kills 42-39, with Alfred hitting .105 to .099 for the Knights. Alfred took the edge in the win in service aces 13-11 and total team blocks 7-4.
 
Hamilton 3 – Mount Saint Mary 0
Mount Saint Mary fell in straight sets for the first time on the season against the Continentals, managing only 18 kills in the contest. Hamilton finished the three set win with 40 kills and hit .274 as a unit to secure the victory.
 
Riddle again led the offensive attack for the Knights with five kills and added an ace, eight digs and a pair of blocks. Burke put away four winners for the Knights and collected two more total blocks.
 
Mazzurco finished up the night with 11 assists against Hamilton and five digs, while Barbara rounded out the first day of the tournament with a team-high 12 digs for the Mount.
 
The Continentals got a match-high eight kills from Jane Fanning with Dorothy Poucher, Deidre Corrigan and Kendall Boxe all putting away seven kills. Corrigan led all players in the contest with 12 assists, while Nikki Matsuoke lifted a team-high 11 digs.
 
Overall, Hamilton finished with a 40-18 advantage in kills on the night, an 11-2 edge in aces and a slim 3-2 advantage in total team blocks.
 
At 2-3 overall on the season, Mount Saint Mary returns to action at New Paltz on Saturday when it takes on Williams (1:00 p.m.) and Kean (5:00 p.m.).
 
NOTE: Stats for the Hamilton match will be posted when they become available.