Gryko leads Lyons with 15 kills

NORTON, Mass. – The Wheaton College women's volleyball team had its rally fall just short against MIT as the Engineers posted a 3-1 win over the Lyons by scores of 25-20, 25-23, 21-25 and 25-22 on Thursday night in New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) action at Emerson Gymnasium.

Wheaton freshman Gaby Gryko (Moraga, Calif./Campolindo) notched a match-high 15 kills, six digs and one service ace while sophomore Arieanne Creighton (Brookline, N.H./Hollis Brookline) turned in 12 kills and one service ace to highlight the attack.

Sophomore Deirdre Wilson (Aptos, Calif./Aptos) compiled her team leading seventh double-double of the season with 30 assists, 11 digs, three kills and one service ace. Classmate Kendall Jacobs (San Diego, Calif./Scripps Ranch) added seven kills and five block assists and freshman Anna Strock (Centerville, Mass./Barnstable) contributed nine digs, one assist and one service ace.

MIT had four student-athletes reach double figures in kills including seniors Kristine Bunker (Falmouth, Mass./Falmouth), Tatiana Berger (Fort Lauderdale, Fla./Pine Crest) and Rachel Hunt (Arlington Heights, Ill./Prospect) and junior Jenny Astrachan (Austin, Texas/Westlake). Bunker paced the quartet with 11 kills, while Berger, Hunt and Astrachan all had ten kills apiece.

Junior setter Nicole Gagnier (Atlanta, Ga./Our Lady of Mercy) facilitated the offense with 39 assists to go along with two kills, four service aces and two digs. Freshman libero Tori Wuthrich (Grosse Pointe Woods, Mich./University Liggett) recorded a match-high 17 digs to guide the defense.

The Engineers led the entire way in set one as Hunt and Astrachan combined for five kills. MIT registered a .222 hitting percentage, its second best mark of the night, and capitalized on five service aces.

Set two featured eight ties and six lead changes before the Engineers came out on top by a 25-23 score. The Engineers rallied from a 20-17 deficit receiving a kill by Astrachan to make it 20-18 and four-straight errors from Wheaton to jump ahead 22-20. Hunt added on to the Engineers gap with her second of three kills for a 23-20 advantage and eventually closed out the set on a putaway off an assist from Gagnier.

In the third set, Wheaton erased a 20-20 tie to extend the match as Creighton and Gryko combined for four of Wheaton's points (three kills, one service ace) down the stretch. Overall, Gryko had six kills in the set, while Jacobs turned in five kills. The Lyons tallied a .302 hitting percentage, their highest figure of any set, alongside 16 kills.

Despite eight attacking errors in set four, MIT finished off Wheaton for its fifth conference victory of the season behind five kills from Bunker and two each by Berger, Hunt and Astrachan, respectively.

Wheaton (10-10, 3-3 NEWMAC) hosts Saint Joseph's (Me.) and Eastern Connecticut State University on Saturday, October 12 for a tri-match beginning at 1 p.m. MIT (15-7, 5-2 NEWMAC) picks up play again on Friday, October 18 when it welcomes Western New England University to Cambridge, Mass. at 7 p.m.

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